Rusty Saber: 'Dummy of the Year' candidate list keeps getting longer

|tab|

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.|ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

There are times when the only reasonable response to the conduct of others is: "How can anyone be that dumb?"|ret||ret||tab|

For instance, what other response can there be to the bank robber whose note to the teller demanding money was written on an envelope with his name and address on the other side? Perhaps even dumber was the man who, after being released from jail, walked across the street from the police station and stole a pickup truck with several policemen looking on.|ret||ret||tab|

A candidate for "Dummy of the Year" is the Colorado man who started the first major forest fire of the season by burning trash in his backyard on a dry and windy day.|ret||ret||tab|

For as yet unknown reasons, a prankster has discovered that some franchise restaurant managers can be conned into performing acts that redefine the concept of dumbness.|ret||ret||tab|

Steven Gray, writing in the Wall Street Journal, says the latest in a series of bizarre incidents occurred in Fountain Hills, Ariz. A caller identified himself as a police officer to the manager of a fast-food restaurant. The phony policeman gave a vague description of a girl who had supposedly stolen a purse. The manager was told to look for her and conduct a strip search of the girl. The caller said to inform her that she would go to jail if she refused to be searched.|ret||ret||tab|

Incredibly, he pulled aside a 17-year-old girl who matched the description and followed instructions. Even more incredibly, the girl went along with being stripped naked and searched. The so-called policeman remained on the line to instruct the manager on how to perform the search. It would be difficult indeed for a naked girl to hide a stolen purse or its content. Needless to say, no loot was found. |ret||ret||tab|

This incident marked the first time that the prankster had singled out a customer to be searched. Previous victims were employees. In those cases, a caller informed restaurant managers of thefts by employees; managers are asked to conduct strip searches. Both male and female managers and employees have fallen for the ruse, which has led to a variety of intriguing search situations. |ret||ret||tab|

More than likely, asking the caller for his name, badge number and telephone number where he could be reached would have put an end to the scam. But that wouldn't have been dumb. |ret||ret||tab|

In a past life as a college professor, I taught persuasion. I know of nothing in the literature of persuasive theory that accounts for a caller being able to persuade people to do something that must have sounded like the dumbest thing imaginable, nor is there a rational reason victims agree to such blatant humiliation.|ret||ret||tab|

According to the Wall Street Journal, police aren't certain why the prankster does it, but they believe the genius (yes, he must be a genius, albeit a demented one) behind the hoaxes apparently calls from north Florida from public phones using a phone card. This has been going on since 1999, a long time for such an audacious prank to be successful. Several franchise restaurants in Massachusetts, South Dakota, Indiana, Utah, Ohio and Arizona have been involved. No Missouri incidents have been reported; that must be a good sign. |ret||ret||tab|

Some fast-food corporate headquarters are sending memos to managers demanding that there be no strip searches. As you might expect, there have been some lawsuits filed. I expect there will be a lot more to come. It may not be illegal to be dumb; however, doing dumb things can for sure lead to big lawsuit payouts.|ret||ret||tab|

[[In-content Ad]]