Decision Time: Spend Spring Break at the beach or... WalMart!?! - Page 2

Ponine · 03-29-2006, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Sorry. I didn't read the link. I had supposed to the stunt was to stow away without detection. If the stunt was simply to stay awake, why was Wal*Mart a necessary part of the equation?

No sweat, I'll give you the high points

Quote:

Bartels, 20, an aspiring writer and Drake University sophomore, thought he'd spend a week in a Wal-Mart as a test of endurance, using it as the premise for a magazine article. His college adviser liked the idea.

"I just intuitively thought, 'This is brilliant!"' said Carol Spaulding-Kruse, an associate professor of English. "I wasn't quite sure why, but it just sounded like a really good idea."
.....

He bought meals at the in-store Subway sandwich shop, but was able to catch only brief naps in a restroom stall or on lawn chairs in the garden department.

Other shoppers and employees didn't pay much attention until the end of his stay, he said, when it appeared some store greeters began to take notice -- pointing at him and whispering.

A shift manager approached him and asked him if he was finding everything he needed.

"He said, 'Didn't I see you over by the magazines, like, five hours ago?' I told him, 'Maybe,"' Bartels said.

Tiring to the point of hallucinating, Bartels said he decided to go home before he was thrown out.

I'm still wondering why anyone thought this was a good idea.

tracilicious · 03-29-2006, 05:41 PM

Wow. I wish I could stay awake fro that long. That sounds cool.

Capt Jack · 03-29-2006, 05:45 PM

yup. did a 100 hour shift in my first job in computer ops. the entire staff had contracted the flu and in the process and time and time again reinfected every person we employed.
except me. so, I volunteered to stay until a healthy person came to relieve me. no one bothered to check to see if that ever happened...since most were home sick.
so...I worked until relieved....went home and passed out trying to untie my shoe. woke up 17 hours later..........with the flu. but with one hell of an overtime check.

truly...no good deed goes unpunished.
(and yes, about 3 days in, the halucinations were........impressive)

note: I did however employ various 'materials' to enable me to stay awake that long and would grab the occasional nap between reloading paper into the printer.

€uroMeinke · 03-29-2006, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capt Jack

note: I did however employ various 'materials' to enable me to stay awake that long

Caffine (in multiple delivery systems) and cigarettes got me through it

innerSpaceman · 03-29-2006, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

Caffine (in multiple delivery systems) and cigarettes got me through it

pffht, amateurs

€uroMeinke · 03-29-2006, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

pffht, amateurs

Perhaps - but lack of sleep induced hallucinations were far more vivid that most of those I've experienced through other means

Capt Jack · 03-29-2006, 05:54 PM

uh...yeahhhhh,...thats what I meant. sure....caffine

Ghoulish Delight · 03-29-2006, 05:58 PM

I went 48 hours, with a cold, whacked out on a combination of decongestants, albuterol inhaler, tea, and 2 liters of Mountain Dew. I wrote a 15 page final paper that I have no real recolection of writing (other than the part where I appologized in the middle because I was whacked out on a combination of decongestants, albuterol inhaler, tea, and 2 liters of Mountain Dew). I then went to a final exam. I don't remember which (econ maybe?). No idea how I did, but I got an A on the paper. I read it a year later, it wasn't too bad.

Alex · 03-29-2006, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

No idea how I did, but I got an A on the paper. I read it a year later, it wasn't too bad.

Don't be surprised if the paper was never read. I found that grading things unread wasn't particularly uncommon as I went through school. Twice in grad school I finally got the balls up to test it when I thought the instructor wasn't grading on much more than expectation. Both times in the middle of long papers I said essentially "At this point I don't expect you to be reading so the next seven pages or so of this paper are just some article I copied and pasted from DIALOG. Mostly it's here to fill out this paper to the required length for the assignment." I made sure to cite it fully so that while I could get in trouble I wouldn't be kicked out for plagiarism. Tacked on a couple pages at the end with the conclusion of my paper (and the papers were fine except that they were shorter than required) and turned it.

Both times I got decent grades without comment.

Cadaverous Pallor · 03-29-2006, 06:46 PM

Hmm, hallucinatory no-sleep swank party...Tiki and 'Tini 'Till Dawn and Beyond?

If we started on a Friday night it could get pretty gnarly before people had to go home Sunday night.

Of course the NYE party is nearly the same. Only a few hours of sleep there, and the party just keeps on rolling.

03-29-2006, 05:41 PM	#2
tracilicious avatar transition Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: in-between Posts: 2,487	Wow. I wish I could stay awake fro that long. That sounds cool. __________________ And now Harry, let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure! - Albus Dumbledore
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03-29-2006, 05:45 PM	#3
Capt Jack check your head Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 4,174	yup. did a 100 hour shift in my first job in computer ops. the entire staff had contracted the flu and in the process and time and time again reinfected every person we employed. except me. so, I volunteered to stay until a healthy person came to relieve me. no one bothered to check to see if that ever happened...since most were home sick. so...I worked until relieved....went home and passed out trying to untie my shoe. woke up 17 hours later..........with the flu. but with one hell of an overtime check. truly...no good deed goes unpunished. (and yes, about 3 days in, the halucinations were........impressive) note: I did however employ various 'materials' to enable me to stay awake that long and would grab the occasional nap between reloading paper into the printer. __________________ a clear conscience is a sure sign of a fuzzy memory
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03-29-2006, 05:54 PM	#7
Capt Jack check your head Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 4,174	uh...yeahhhhh,...thats what I meant. sure....caffine __________________ a clear conscience is a sure sign of a fuzzy memory
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03-29-2006, 05:58 PM	#8
Ghoulish Delight I Floop the Pig Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Alternative Swankstyle Posts: 19,348	I went 48 hours, with a cold, whacked out on a combination of decongestants, albuterol inhaler, tea, and 2 liters of Mountain Dew. I wrote a 15 page final paper that I have no real recolection of writing (other than the part where I appologized in the middle because I was whacked out on a combination of decongestants, albuterol inhaler, tea, and 2 liters of Mountain Dew). I then went to a final exam. I don't remember which (econ maybe?). No idea how I did, but I got an A on the paper. I read it a year later, it wasn't too bad. __________________ 'He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.' -TJ
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03-29-2006, 06:46 PM	#10
Cadaverous Pallor ohhhh baby Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Parental Bliss Posts: 12,364	Hmm, hallucinatory no-sleep swank party...Tiki and 'Tini 'Till Dawn and Beyond? If we started on a Friday night it could get pretty gnarly before people had to go home Sunday night. Of course the NYE party is nearly the same. Only a few hours of sleep there, and the party just keeps on rolling. __________________ The second star to the right shines in the night for you
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