And if we believe it’s true, it might change our behavior permanently - at least in terms of accepting drinks from attractive strangers.Ĭontrast the Kidney Heist story with this passage, drawn from a paper distributed by a nonprofit organization.
We understand it, we remember it, and we can retell it later. You might forget that the traveler was in Atlantic City for “an important meeting with clients” - who cares about that? But you’d remember all the important stuff. Chances are you could tell it almost perfectly. Imagine that you closed the book right now, took an hourlong break, then called a friend and told the story, without rereading it. One version features a married man who receives the drugged drink from a prostitute he has invited to his room in Las Vegas. There are hundreds of versions in circulation, and all of them share a core of three elements: (1) the drugged drink, (2) the ice-filled bathtub, and (3) the kidney-theft punch line. You’ve probably heard the Kidney Heist tale before. ” Have you ever noticed that our friends’ friends have much more interesting lives than our friends themselves? The first clue is the classic urban-legend opening: “A friend of a friend. You’ve just read one of the most successful urban legends of the past fifteen years. There’s a ring of organ thieves operating in this city, and they got to you. The operator said, “Sir, don’t panic, but one of your kidneys has been harvested. Is there a tube protruding from your lower back?”Īnxious, he felt around behind him. She said, “Sir, I want you to reach behind you, slowly and carefully. The operator seemed oddly familiar with his situation.
He picked it up and called 911, his fingers numb and clumsy from the ice. call 911.Ī cell phone rested on a small table beside the bathtub. He looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was and how he got there. Rather, that was the last thing he remembered until he woke up, disoriented, lying in a hotel bathtub, his body submerged in ice. And that was the last thing he remembered.
The woman walked to the bar and brought back two more drinks - one for her and one for him.
He’d just finished one drink when an attractive woman approached and asked if she could buy him another. Afterward, he had some time to kill before his flight, so he went to a local bar for a drink. Dave was recently in Atlantic City for an important meeting with clients. Learn more » IntroductionĪ friend of a friend of ours is a frequent business traveler. NOTE: If you sign up for our distribution list, you can get free access to the PDF version of this excerpt.
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