A high-stakes scavenger hunt
By Tom Mercer
Carbondale-ish
Long ago, it was not uncommon for children to participate in a scavenger hunt. For our purposes, a scavenger hunt is a competitive activity wherein two or more teams are given identical lists of items which they have to locate and acquire by going door-to-door in their community. At each home, a team would request that the occupant freely give them one or more of the items on their list, and, upon returning to the place where the hunt began, the team that collected the greatest number of listed items wins the competition.
William Wilson, a wealthy resident of Manhattan, was planning a party at his home. William had an unusual sense of humor. He wanted his guests to experience a unique activity that none of his fashionable friends would ever have experienced. So, William decided that a scavenger hunt would be the perfect activity for his party guests.
William knew that his guests would be reluctant to participate in the activity, so he sweetened the deal by promising a three-night stay at his posh second home on Long Island. William’s plan worked, and the majority of his guests agreed to participate in the scavenger hunt. Teams were formed and the lists of items to procure were distributed.
The list of items included the following: a bowling ball, a used tube of toothpaste, a kazoo, an unopened candy bar and a mouse trap (without the mouse). The winning team would be the one that returned with the greatest number of items on the list.
A fellow named Larry Smithson was one of the party guests that night. Larry was known to be highly competitive. Both Larry and his partner, Alice, could generate a friendly smile within a second. So, they expected to do well — and they were correct. They had successfully found all of the minor items when they pressed the doorbell at Apartment 8B.
A man with a cast on his left leg answered the doorbell. They explained the reason for their visit, and the man, who clearly would not be bowling anytime soon, handed Larry a bowling ball. With their mission more or less accomplished, they returned to their host’s apartment. The host was clearly impressed, and he asked Larry if he could take a look at the bowling ball. Unfortunately, as Larry was handing the bowling ball to his host it slipped out of his hands and landed squarely on Larry’s big toe.
So, “Limping Larry” spent a week recuperating and healing in a deluxe Long Island condominium.