Corn: A Space Odyssey

The story you are about to read is true. The names have been omitted to protect the innocent.

So, I'm on AIM with one of my dearest, dearest friends, who I think the world of and would do anything for. She's one of the world's coolest peeps. But on this night, she asks me perhaps the single weirdest question I have ever (and when I say ever, I mean ever) been asked. Think of any weird question you can. Anything. There are no boundaries on this. You can think of ANYTHING you want. Got one? No, BZZT, sorry. No matter what you thought of, it CAN'T be any weirder than the question she asked me.

"Can you tell me any memories you have of corn?"

Stop a second and think about what you just saw. Re-read it, if you have to.

Yes, that was ACTUALLY the question she asked. And we aren't even talking about the band or anything. She meant the vegetable. She actually wanted written memories of the food.

Now, she had actual reasons. She is apparently in an agricultural studies course and had to write a paper reviewing a cookbook and something else about the history of corn. And I guess she needed some background and/or anecdotes of the veggie for the essay. All this is a practical and understandable reason for asking such a question.

This still, however, does not detract from the fact that she was asking me to write out my memories of CORN.

So, being the loyal friend that I am, I did the best I could. I wrote of how my mom grew corn in her garden and I could remember helping schuck it as a child. I wrote about how our family always ate boiled corn, right on the cob. I wrote of how some of my friends have introduced me to grilled corn, grilling it with the husk still on. I wrote of how I grew up on a farm surrounded by cornfields, and played in them all the time as a kid. And when I'm done, she is indeed very thankful for contributing my valuable corn nostalgia to the project.

Now, all this, I did, and though it was indeed truly bizarre, it wouldn't have warranted posting this story to the blog. Especially not after I spent the better part of an hour baring my soul in my previous post. (See below.)

But then, about an hour later, I get another message from her. Apparently, she accidentally X-ed out the AIM window my corn anecdotes were in. And then she asked if I could please RE-SEND THEM.

So, not only was I asked the single most bizarre question I can remember, and not only did I write a paragraph or so of memories about corn...but I did so TWICE.

The perfect punchline to a truly odd day.