One of the things Rumor Control feeds on is ACSOTS, Acryptocal Stories, Often Told.
Some of them go on and on for years and everyone that tells the tale know someone who knew someone that was there when the incident happened.
My brother knew a guy that said that he met a guy in a bar that said his kid brother's college roomate knew someone that heard that his third cousin twice removed used to work with a guy that was there and saw it with his own eyes.
All corporate management everywhere hates Rumor Control with a purple passion but they know that fighting it is a no win situation. Once our Chief Operating Officer addressed a group of us and said that if they heard any rumors to call him personally for confirmation or denial.
I looked up and dryly said to him, "What? You're trying to take away our biggest source of entertainment when we're away at sea? That's not fair!"
He kinda caved right in. "I guess it sounds like it. Anyway, you can call me," he said, shaking his head. I liked the guy. Many people feared him but he was a pretty straight shooter.
Anyway, back on track.
Some bonehead academy type a few years back was sitting on the side of a tugboat which is something that they trained him NOT to do before he ever even entered the academy gates. I think it was on his acceptence letter or something. Boating 101. Don't sit on a rail because you can fall over the side.
I happened by with the mate and someone else and the kid asked me when I was going to retire to let someone get ahead. I made a false lunge at him and in the process of trying to brace himself he lost his balance and fell into the drink. He simply fished himself out by climbing up on the fendering and promptly tried to blame me to the point where he actually reported it. (Snitch!)
It blew up in his face as by doing so he admitted to breaking a safety rule in addition to being labeled a whiner. He cut his own throat. In fact the mate headed it off with a quick phone call and nothing was actually said to me by anyone up the food chain.
The story went around the fleet and needless to say, grew with each retelling until the story went that I had thrown a 275 pound deckhand 35 feet across the deck where he had cleared the rail and fallen screaming all the way down 45 feet into a tumultous 50 foot sea.
I am not entirely stupid and having read Machiavelli knew that sometimes it is better to be feared than loved and I neither confirmed nor denied any of it. I just let the fever rage.
It died down practically as fast as it started but every now and then it would come up again briefly, generally it was told to a new guy.
It had pretty much died down for quite some time until I transferred to the west coast. Someone that had heard the story heard I was being sent there and it flared up again.
The best I can figure is some people (as is usually the case) actually believed that a guy could get away with throwing someone over the side. Fact is, not only would someone be fired for doing that, they'd be outright arrested and carted off.
Whatever. like I said, I never confirmed nor denied it because sometimes it is better to be feared than loved.
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