What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

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IMADreamer
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What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by IMADreamer »

We took a long weekend last week, had planned on a full vacation but had to rearrange some plans. Anyway, we stopped by Meramec Caverns on the way to Branson. Branson could probably be it's own whole thread, but I digress. So at the Caverns you go through the tour, see the cave and it was interesting. Then they shuttle you into their "theater" which is a bunch of benches and this really cool stalactite formation that forms a screen. Then they proceed to show a short movie that can only be described as a conservative Americans wet dream. First off Celine Dion is singing "God Bless America." Which is weird since she's Canadian. Then all the images are of soldiers with guns, tanks, planes, air craft carriers, and some bald eagles and flags thrown in. So as it ends I say to my wife "ok is it just me or was that some weird [expletive] for a cave tour?" and the girl in front of us who I'd say was in her 20s and looked to be Indian looks back and says "that was some weird [expletive]." My wife agreed.

So yeah, Meramec Caverns, check out the cave tour skip the 5 minute propaganda film at the end.

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Popeye_Card
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Re: What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by Popeye_Card »

In this vein, a couple years ago I was walking around the Houston (IAH) airport before my flight, around 9:10 or so in the morning. All of the sudden the national anthem starts playing over the PA system. Everybody stops what they are doing and stands up while it plays.

I look around for a military funeral or processional or something. Nope. I check my watch if it is 9:00 and this is just something they do every morning. Nope, it was a completely random time like 9:12. There were no specific flags for anyone to salute, so it was just weird.

I said “screw it” and kept walking to find some breakfast.

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MrCrowesGarden
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Re: What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by MrCrowesGarden »

I was on a family road trip with my parents. I was probably about 12. We stopped at a McDonald’s in Arkansas for lunch. Shortly after we ordered, a van full of Christian school kids/summer camp kids arrived and ordered. As I was getting ready to eat, they all screamed “WE LOVE JESUS!!!!” at the top of their lungs. They then proceeded to eat their food in about five minutes and left the restaurant with their mess on the table. I assume Jesus was going to clean it up.

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CardsofSTL
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Re: What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by CardsofSTL »

IMADreamer wrote:
August 2 21, 8:48 pm
We took a long weekend last week, had planned on a full vacation but had to rearrange some plans. Anyway, we stopped by Meramec Caverns on the way to Branson. Branson could probably be it's own whole thread, but I digress. So at the Caverns you go through the tour, see the cave and it was interesting. Then they shuttle you into their "theater" which is a bunch of benches and this really cool stalactite formation that forms a screen. Then they proceed to show a short movie that can only be described as a conservative Americans wet dream. First off Celine Dion is singing "God Bless America." Which is weird since she's Canadian. Then all the images are of soldiers with guns, tanks, planes, air craft carriers, and some bald eagles and flags thrown in. So as it ends I say to my wife "ok is it just me or was that some weird [expletive] for a cave tour?" and the girl in front of us who I'd say was in her 20s and looked to be Indian looks back and says "that was some weird [expletive]." My wife agreed.

So yeah, Meramec Caverns, check out the cave tour skip the 5 minute propaganda film at the end.
When I went to the Caverns as a kid I remembered them playing a pretty bad recording of Kate Smith singing the song because she had visited there like forty years earlier. So I found this online:
Meramec Caverns
The caverns opened as a tourist attraction in September 1933. In 1946 singer Kate Smith visited. Since that time every tour of the cave has ended with an American flag projected on a cave wall while a scratchy record of Kate sings her signature tune, "God Bless America." Despite complaints from younger employees that no one knows who Kate Smith is any more, owner Lester Turilli Sr. has vowed to keep her as part of the tour -- although in a nod to changing times (and to celebrate the caverns' 80th birthday) the Kate vinyl record has been retired and replaced by a Kate CD.
So maybe they upgraded to Celine Dion? I dunno.

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G. Keenan
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Re: What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by G. Keenan »

I can think of a few contenders. A choreographed rendition of Thriller performed by Cambodian orphans at a random bar in Siem Reap is up there. It does not however rank above a ping pong show in Bangkok where a bunch of Australians chanted "Aussie Aussie Aussie . . . oy oy oy!" while women shot a variety of objects out of their nether regions. That genuinely traumatized me a little bit.

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InvincibleCakeEater
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Re: What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by InvincibleCakeEater »

Tell me about your Branson experience.

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GeddyWrox
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Re: What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by GeddyWrox »

I have stories that might be better for an R-rated polyamory thread. LOL

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MrCrowesGarden
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Re: What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by MrCrowesGarden »

Popeye_Card wrote:
August 3 21, 7:07 am
In this vein, a couple years ago I was walking around the Houston (IAH) airport before my flight, around 9:10 or so in the morning. All of the sudden the national anthem starts playing over the PA system. Everybody stops what they are doing and stands up while it plays.

I look around for a military funeral or processional or something. Nope. I check my watch if it is 9:00 and this is just something they do every morning. Nope, it was a completely random time like 9:12. There were no specific flags for anyone to salute, so it was just weird.

I said “screw it” and kept walking to find some breakfast.
Is it at all possible that your watch was a minute fast and they did it at 9:11? Bear in mind, this would still be incredibly weird.

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Popeye_Card
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Re: What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by Popeye_Card »

MrCrowesGarden wrote:
August 3 21, 4:39 pm
Popeye_Card wrote:
August 3 21, 7:07 am
In this vein, a couple years ago I was walking around the Houston (IAH) airport before my flight, around 9:10 or so in the morning. All of the sudden the national anthem starts playing over the PA system. Everybody stops what they are doing and stands up while it plays.

I look around for a military funeral or processional or something. Nope. I check my watch if it is 9:00 and this is just something they do every morning. Nope, it was a completely random time like 9:12. There were no specific flags for anyone to salute, so it was just weird.

I said “screw it” and kept walking to find some breakfast.
Is it at all possible that your watch was a minute fast and they did it at 9:11? Bear in mind, this would still be incredibly weird.
Very possible it was 9:11 - I was going completely off of memory. It would be strange if they did it at 9:11 every day for nearly 20 years.

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MrCrowesGarden
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Re: What's the weirdest thing you've experienced?

Post by MrCrowesGarden »

It would be strange, but it's also the most plausible thing I can think of as I stretch the realm of possibility.

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