2008 Woodie Awards
Stealing a leg to get ahead
Courtney Miller - Daily Trojan (USC)
Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: News
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(U-WIRE) LOS ANGELES -- I was perusing BBC News online when I came across a rather odd headline: "North Carolina pair feud over leg." Curiosity convinced me to read the article, because who would argue over a leg? Is this a couple we're talking about?
Apparently, John Wood, whose leg was amputated following a 2004 plane crash, elected to store said appendage in a rented smokehouse so that he could be buried with it when he died.
Unfortunately for Wood, he was late on payments for a storage facility where the smokehouse, and the leg, was stored. The smokehouse was sold, along with all its contents, to Shannon Whisnant.
Whisnant, after turning the leg over to police upon its discover, has made a spectacle out of the ordeal, charging $3.00 for adults and $1.00 for kids to take a peek inside the empty, albeit morbid, smokehouse.
Realizing he could draw more visitors and make a larger profit, Whisnant now wants custody of the leg -- at least in part (he gamely offered to share it with Wood). He argues, "Halloween's just around the corner. The price will go up if I get the leg."
Meanwhile, Wood simply wants to recover his missing leg.
Whisnant, maybe down on his luck, saw an opportunity to pull himself up by his bootstraps and, by George, he's taking that opportunity to fulfill the American dream and make a profit.
After all, isn't this what we value in the United States? Aren't we just falling all over ourselves to produce people like Whisnant who will go out into the world and really use their ingenuity to make it big?
Or maybe this isn't quite what Thomas Jefferson had in mind. I have a feeling that something got lost in translation between what millions perceived to be the promise of a better life and charging your neighbor's kids $1.00 a pop to check out a barbecue pit where an amputated leg used to reside.
When people want to put amputated limbs on display to make a buck, I begin to wonder if people are using whatever means possible to get ahead and fulfill the American dream.
Apparently, John Wood, whose leg was amputated following a 2004 plane crash, elected to store said appendage in a rented smokehouse so that he could be buried with it when he died.
Unfortunately for Wood, he was late on payments for a storage facility where the smokehouse, and the leg, was stored. The smokehouse was sold, along with all its contents, to Shannon Whisnant.
Whisnant, after turning the leg over to police upon its discover, has made a spectacle out of the ordeal, charging $3.00 for adults and $1.00 for kids to take a peek inside the empty, albeit morbid, smokehouse.
Realizing he could draw more visitors and make a larger profit, Whisnant now wants custody of the leg -- at least in part (he gamely offered to share it with Wood). He argues, "Halloween's just around the corner. The price will go up if I get the leg."
Meanwhile, Wood simply wants to recover his missing leg.
Whisnant, maybe down on his luck, saw an opportunity to pull himself up by his bootstraps and, by George, he's taking that opportunity to fulfill the American dream and make a profit.
After all, isn't this what we value in the United States? Aren't we just falling all over ourselves to produce people like Whisnant who will go out into the world and really use their ingenuity to make it big?
Or maybe this isn't quite what Thomas Jefferson had in mind. I have a feeling that something got lost in translation between what millions perceived to be the promise of a better life and charging your neighbor's kids $1.00 a pop to check out a barbecue pit where an amputated leg used to reside.
When people want to put amputated limbs on display to make a buck, I begin to wonder if people are using whatever means possible to get ahead and fulfill the American dream.
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