Indiana boy licks light pole, gets stuck

[cynatnite]

HAMMOND, Ind. – In a scene straight out of the movie "A Christmas Story," a 10-year-old Indiana boy got his tongue stuck to a metal light pole.

Hammond police say the unidentified fourth-grader was able to tell them that a friend dared him to lick the pole Wednesday night. Temperatures in the Chicago suburb were around 10 degrees at the time.

By the time an ambulance arrived, the boy was able to yank his tongue off the frozen pole.

Police say ambulance personnel explained to the boy's mother how to care for his bleeding tongue.

The 1983 movie is set in a fictional city based on Hammond, the hometown of author Jean Shepherd.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090116/ap_on_fe_st/odd_tongue_pole

[ixion]

1. just to pick a nit... the whole licking an ice cold light pole thing is as old as dirt

and before there were light poles, I'm sure it was something else.

[Beausoleil]

2. "a friend dared him"

But was it a triple-dog dare?

[Rebubula]

4. Well...

...If someone triple-dog dares ya....you cannot walk away from that!!!!!!!

Still have a scar on my leg from a triple-dog dare back in '75. Glad I accepted even though Mom was horrified. Ahhhh....the ignorance of youth. I am glad I am not that dumb (usually) these days....

[Beausoleil]

6. When I was 5

we lived in Massachusetts. I learned the lesson when I opened the front door and stuck my tongue on the inside of the frame of the metal screen door. Fortunately, the frame wasn't that cold so I didn't rip a hole in my tongue.

[wellstone dem]

3. We have a saying, "If your car starts in a Minnesota winter--don't kiss it."

[BarbaRosa]

5. Well, at least he didn't shoot himself in the eye.

[pokerfan]

7. It happens all the time

Nothing like approaching the world with a skeptical eye. It just sounds like it must be one of those old wives tales but it's actually quite a science experiment in thermal conductivity. If you are old enough to remember metal ice trays you probably remember your fingers getting stuck to them as well.

[Lefta Dissenter]

8. funny that it made the news

Haven't we all been tongue-stuck someplace at one time or another? My bichon, when he was a little puppy, was coming inside on a cold day, and must have taken a swipe at the metal threshhold on his way in. There he was, shrieking, with his tongue frozen in the doorway. He didn't quite have the sense to wait for a hairdryer (or an ambulance), so just yanked it off. Poor little Popcorn... :(