The Death Of A Hot Running Joke

Twenty-plus years ago, I worked in IT. [Guy #1] out in the shipping area was a great dude but not great with computers, so he’d always call and be like, “Hey, man, my computer is on fire. I need help,” as a joke. I’d go down, and he would have some issue with email or whatever. This went on for quite a while, and it was a running joke.

One of the guys on the other side of the wall from [Guy #1] called one day.

Guy #2: “Hey, my computer is on fire and smoking! You need to come down!”

Me: “Yeah, okay. I’ll be down in a few. Just let it burn.”

A few minutes went by, and he called back.

Guy #2: “Hey, man, this thing is smoking and shooting sparks.”

Me: “Yeah sure. I’ll be right there.”

Well, I walked down, and when I was almost there, I was like, “Oh, s***, I smell smoke!”

When I arrived, [Guy #2]’s CRT monitor was shooting sparks and smoke out the back. I immediately yanked the cord out.

Me: “What the f***, dude?!”

Guy #2: “Well, you said to let it burn!”