Extinction

       There was a morning long ago when I was driving to work at the lab. The lab was still in Norcross, so it must have been between 1994 and ’98. And in the car, I would listen mostly to Fox 97 – the Oldies radio station. A station which is no more. The morning duo were Randy and Spiff who were usually good for a laugh or at least a smile on the drive in. Every Friday morning, they played the Scotsman’s Song, you know, the one about the kilt and the blue ribbon? And I think it was on Mondays it was they played the Man Song. The rest were all sixties songs with the dj’s lively banter mixed in. You could tell Randy and Spiff were having a good time.

       So, on this one particular morning, Randy and Spiff mentioned that a news item had just come in that they couldn’t wait to share. There were renovations going on at the stadium downtown. And in the midst of some digging there, bones had been found. The buzz was that these might be dinosaur bones!

       Wow! As I drove, I wondered about dinosaur bones in Atlanta, in Georgia. Have bones been found here before this? I had not lived in Georgia too many years but wouldn’t I have known by then about the local dinosaurs? Maybe these were the first ever dinosaur bones found in Georgia? Oh gosh this was exciting. I couldn’t wait to get to the lab and tell the others!

       Yes! Dinosaur bones were definitely newsworthy to my fellow science co-workers!

       Then, as the day wore on, tasks distracted us, and no more was heard on the radio or elsewhere about the find at the stadium.

       That seemed strange.

       And late in the afternoon, a co-worker came by and  said, “yeah, Denise, about the dinosaur bones? You do realize, don’t you, that today is April first?”

       Randy and Spiff had totally April fooled me! And now you know why this memory came upon me today.

       It was a great April Fool’s Day prank.

       But I still mourn the sudden extinction of the Atlanta dinosaur!

20200401 44 Extinction