You all completely dominated

Where's the history nugget podcast?

Loved the episode! And the heavy involvement of the winged hussars lead me to finally become a patron. I used to work as an ROV-Pilot on ships and there it was very usual to make the newbies do fools errands, filling up the moon pool (filling up the sea) draning the buoyancy and running down to the engine to collect a bucket of vacuum.

My wife (a confirmed lady by the way) worked in and ran kitchens when we met. Chefs are built a little differently. A common chef prank in one of her kitchens was to have a newbie clean the “microwave filters” - which were “important safety equipment” to be cleaned using hot soapy water. The “filter” was actually a sheet of gelatine, which would instantly dissolve on contact with hot water. Considering this was described as a safety device which prevented microwaves from escaping the oven, it was a little unnerving how many newbies would say “yep, all clean now, and I’ve re-installed it.”

MatteBush

Guys, I’m not kidding, and this is not a prank (or fool’s errand)…I own an ambidextrous, metric crescent wrench. I don’t use Twitter, how can I share a pic of this thing with you?

I’m late to this thread, but wanted to tell the typical Audio Engineers version of a fools errand. It’s usually when you have a new guy/gal on the road for the first time, setting up a large venue (stadium tour…etc), and you send them to find the “cable stretcher”, because this microphone or speaker cable isn’t long enough. Gets them almost all the time. And their reaction is a real “tell” as to wether they’re cut out for life on the road.

What was your wife's reaction? :-)

Would have confused me too!

Smarter Every Day

Smart

Smarter Every Day

So while I was listening to this on my way to work, I was at the point when you guys called Trent and right after Matt said hello there was just silence. For a few seconds I thought Trent was just pulling a hilarious bit of ignoring Matt but turns out my phone decided to connect to my wife's car who was behind me at that time. I had a good laugh though. I mean I think it would be totally plausible right?

I’ve never once heard of the fool’s errand in the context of a prank - it’s always been more of a generality leveled at somebody who is doing something you and others assume to be folly. [prairie state dweller]

You speak truth.

Great episode, but I'm torn because I've been enjoying the podcast more with my daughters and I feel like some of these "errands" would be great for them and their upbringing. Especially with a left-handed daughter and needing some left-handed pliers or when they learn to drive and need to check the muffler fluids. Yep, just gonna keep this one to myself.

Now I have happily sore face muscles! I'm fascinated in how guilt and shame come into play in fool's errands. I like Matt's take the L point. It's almost like a fool's errand is kind of a belonging litmus test to include someone and also see how the person handles a joke/getting got and being a little embarrassed in making a silly choice. It's a kinder, way better game than a nasty prank and ones that deeply shame newcomers. Feeling a little humiliated isn't the same thing as a shaming someone.

Matthew J Palka

Matt makes the classic error. Anytime you get sent for something from the purse, always bring the whole purse back.

Thanks for calling, that was a lot of fun!