I once unpacked a SCSI drive shipped from Bubba's in Louisiana,
and it arrived with this article in the packaging. No kidding!
Congratulations! You have purchased an extremely fine device
that would give you thousands of years of trouble-free service,
except that you undoubtedly will destroy it via some typical
bonehead consumer maneuver. Which is why we ask you to:
PLEASE FOR GOD'S SAKE READ THIS OWNER'S MANUAL CAREFULLY BEFORE
YOU UNPACK THE DEVICE. YOU ALREADY UNPACKED IT, DIDN'T YOU? YOU
UNPACKED IT AND PLUGGED IT IN AND TURNED IT ON AND FIDDLED WITH
THE KNOBS, AND NOW YOUR CHILD, THE SAME CHILD WHO ONCE SHOVED
A POLISH SAUSAGE INTO YOUR VIDEOCASSETTE RECORDER AND SET IT ON
"FAST FORWARD", THIS CHILD ALSO IS FIDDLING WITH THE
KNOBS, RIGHT? WE MIGHT AS WELL JUST BREAK THESE DEVICES RIGHT
AT THE FACTORY BEFORE WE SHIP THEM OUT, YOU KNOW THAT?!?
We're sorry. We just get a little crazy sometimes because we're
always getting back "defective" merchandise where it
turns out that the consumer inadvertently bathed the device in
acid for six days. So, in writing these instructions, we naturally
tend to assume that your skull is filled with dead insects, but
we mean nothing by it. OK? Now let's talk about:
1. UNPACKING THE DEVICE
The device is encased in foam to protect it from the Shipping
People, who like nothing more than to jab spears into outgoing
boxes.
PLEASE INSPECT THE CONTENTS CAREFULLY FOR GASHES OR IDA MAE BARKER'S
ENGAGEMENT RING, WHICH SHE LOST LAST WEEK, AND SHE THINKS MAYBE
IT WAS WHILE SHE WAS PACKING DEVICES.
Ida Mae really wants that ring back, because it is her only proof
of engagement, and her fiancee, Stuart, is now seriously considering
backing out on the whole thing in as much as he had consumed
most of a bottle of Jim Beam in Quality Control when he decided
to pop the question. It is not without irony that Ida Mae's
last name is "Barker", if you get our drift.
WARNING: DO NOT EVER AS LONG AS YOU LIVE THROW AWAY THE BOX OR
ANY OF THE PIECES OF STYROFOAM, EVEN THE LITTLE ONES SHAPED LIKE
PEANUTS.
If you attempt to return the device to the store, and you are
missing one single peanut, the store personnel will laugh in
the chilling manner exhibited by Joseph Stalin just after he
enslaved Eastern Europe.
Besides the device, the box should contain:
* Eight little rectangular snippets of paper that say "WARNING"
* A little plastic packet containing four 5/17 inch pilfer grommets
and two club-ended 6/93 inch boxcar prawns.
YOU WILL NEED TO SUPPLY: a matrix wrench and 60,000 feet of tram
cable.
IF ANYTHING IS DAMAGED OR MISSING: You IMMEDIATELY should turn
to your spouse and say "Margaret, you know why this country
can't make a car that can get all the way through the drive-through
at Burger King without a major transmission overhaul? Because
nobody cares, that's why."
WARNING: This is assuming your spouse's name is Margaret. And
not Pete.
2. PLUGGING IN THE DEVICE
The plug on this device represents the latest thinking of the
electrical industry's Plug Mutation Group, which, in a continuing
effort to prevent consumers from causing hazardous electrical
current to flow through their appliances, developed the Three-Pronged
Plug, then the Plug Where One Prong is Bigger Than the Other.
Your device is equipped with the revolutionary new Plug Whose
Prongs Consist of Six Small Religious Figurines Made of Chocolate.
DO NOT TRY TO PLUG IT IN!
Lay it gently on the floor near an outlet, but out of direct
sunlight, and clean it weekly with a damp handkerchief.
WARNING: WHEN YOU ARE LAYING THE PLUG ON THE FLOOR, DO NOT HOLD
A SHARP OBJECT IN YOUR OTHER HAND AND TRIP OVER THE CORD AND POKE
YOUR EYE OUT, AS THIS COULD VOID THE WARRANTY.
3. OPERATION OF THE DEVICE
WARNING: WE MANUFACTURE ONLY THE ATTRACTIVE DESIGNER CASE. THE
ACTUAL WORKING CENTRAL PARTS OF THE DEVICE ARE MANUFACTURED IN
JAPAN. THE INSTRUCTIONS WERE TRANSLATED BY MRS. SHIRLEY PELTWATER
OF ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE, WHO HAS NEVER ACTUALLY BEEN TO JAPAN BUT
DOES HAVE MOST OF "SHOGUN" ON TAPE.
INSTRUCTIONS: For results that can be the finest, it is our
advising that: NEVER to hold these buttons two times!! Except
the battery. Next taking the (something) earth section may cause
a large occurrence! However. If this is not a trouble, such
rotation is a very maintainence action, as a kindly (something)
virepoint from Drawing B.
4. WARRANTY
Be it hereby known that this device, together with but not excluding
all those certain parts thereunto, shall be warrantied against
all defects, failures and malfunctions as shall occur between
now and Thursday afternoon shortly before 2, during which time
the Manufacturer will, at no charge to the Owner, send the device
to our Service People, who will emerge from their caves and engage
in rituals designed to cleanse it of evil spirits. This warranty
does not cover the attractive designer case.
WARNING: IT MAY BE A VIOLATION OF SOME LAW THAT MRS. SHIRLEY PELTWATER HAS "SHOGUN" ON TAPE.