Murphy's Law

What is that thing that virtually guarantees that “if it can go wrong, it will go wrong”?

According to my exhaustive research, the correct original Murphy's Law reads: “If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it.” Evidently, this Murphy guy was not the one who had the bad luck…Edward A. Murphy, Jr. was one of McDonnell-Douglas's test engineers on the rocket-sled experiments that were done by the U.S. Air Force in 1949 to test human acceleration tolerances (USAF project MX981).

(I know you’ve been just dying to know this.)

One experiment involved a set of 16 accelerometers mounted to different parts of the subject's body. There were two ways each sensor could be glued to its mount, and somebody methodically installed all 16 in a replacement set the wrong way around.

Murphy then pronounced that the guy who made this gross sensor-error was a complete idiot…and an entire new law was born.

Ironically, the law became Murphy’s law….and not the name of the schmuck who actually made the error in the first place.

Some guys just can’t catch a break:

Wisconsin Inmate Accused Anew of Impersonating Officer
Madison, Wis. (AP) – A Madison man already serving time for impersonating an officer apparently hasn’t learned his lesson.

Thirty-year-old Joshua D. Kay is charged with a new count of impersonating an officer. At an initial court appearance Friday, he stood mute…so the court entered a plea of not guilty.

Prosecutors say Kay has been telling other inmates he’s actually a sheriff’s deputy, working undercover to investigate other deputies.

Kay is serving an eight-month jail sentence for three misdemeanors. Among them was a 2007 conviction for turning on flashing red lights and a siren on his personal car to try to stop a speeder. The other car was driven by an off-duty police officer.

I find this particularly hilarious….I mean, what are the odds that the one time he decides to play vigilante he winds up pulling over a real cop?

You KNOW I can just imagine how this went down:

Kay: “License and registration, please. Do you know why I pulled you over, buddy?”

Off-duty police officer: “No…why don’t you share that with me?”

K: “Well, sure. See, the speed limit on this here road is 40…and you were going at least 50…probably more like 55….”

ODPO: “And you know this…how?”

K: “Oh…that. Well, my radar gun is in the shop…so, I…ya know, kinda eyeballed it…being a seasoned professional and all. License and registration, sir. I’m going to have to write you up.”

OFPO: “Gee…I don’t seem to have that information handy, Officer. Why don’t you show me your badge instead.”

K: “You know, on second thought…I’m gonna let you off with a warning. Don’t speed. I’ve gotta run….there’s….a….W-2 in progress…somewhere….”

BUSTED.

And so, the next time you’re feeling a bit of road rage…or you’re feeling that "Murphy’s Law" kind of aura surrounding you, just think about sad Mr. Kay here…or maybe that never-to-be-recognized, un-named guy who put all those sensors on backwards back in 1949…and you’ll undoubtedly think “Gee. I guess it’s not so bad after all.”