Cop a Laugh

Google Maps - Always Helpful

Stephanie at come what may found this funny Googlism. It reminded me of an old joke:

A newly retired man is walking home from his wife's funeral when he sees a sign in a travel agency window offering a cruise to Europe for only $20. Feeling at loose ends and in need of a diversion, the man stops into the agency and inquires about the cruise.

"It's for real," said the travel agent, "but there is one catch. You have to be ready to leave right now."

The retired widower is ready for anything, and replies, "OK. I have my American Express card, I can buy new clothes in Europe, by golly. Here's my $20, when do we leave?"

The travel agent pointed out a door at the back and said, "Go right through that door marked Departures, sir! Enjoy your cruise."

As soon as our traveler steps through the door, he is hit over the head and rendered unconscious. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a rowboat tied to a buoy so far out to sea that he could see no land. There is a stranger in the boat who tells him that he bought the same $20 cruise, and says he has found a compass and a note on board with directions for rowing to Europe.

Disgusted, but with no other options, the men begin taking turns rowing the boat. After a few hours, our retired widower grows hungry, and asks his traveling companion if there was any food on the boat. "I don't think so," the stranger replied, "there wasn't any last year."

I don't know what to make of Google. Some of the stuff they do annoys folks, like ignoring Christian Holidays in their frequent commemorative logo changes and helping the nasty, totalitarian governments, like the Chinese Communist regime, oppress their people. Hey, its their company, I figure they can run it as they please.

Other stuff they do, like enabling bloggers to do their thing for free, strikes me as pretty darn good. Google Earth is outstanding, but do they edit it to hide ChiCom missile sites or Russian prison camps? I use their search engines every day without knowing if the Google I get is also censored or if the results I get are skewed to reflect some bias or another.

Directions from New York to Paris

At least they have a sense of humor. If someone got killed or injured trying to follow these directions to Swim across the Atlantic Ocean, do you suppose they could find a lawyer willing to sue Google?
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Addendum: Rumors are flying that Google is planning a new location in Iowa, just across the footbridge from Omaha. This might be good news for folks looking for tech work in the Omaha-Council Bluffs Iowa.