Jolting iPod News

FILE UNDER NOT-SO EASY LISTENING

FITSNews – July 12, 2007 – As surprising as it sounds, it may actually be somewhat dangerous to walk around outside during a lightning storm while listening to your iPod. Medical experts agree:

“It’s going to hit where it’s going to hit, but once it contacts metal, the metal conducts the electricity,” said Dr. Mary Ann Cooper of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Metal conducts electricity? Damn. This really sucks because hooking up our pint-sized personal jukeboxs and heading out for a run in the middle of a supercharged Southern “frog-strangler” (editor’s note: thunderstorm) was like No. 5 on our “To Do List” today. It was right after siphoning some gasoline by mouth, dropping a plugged-in toaster into our bathtub, parking our car on the railroad tracks and borrowing some needles from HIV-positive heroin addicts.

Oh well, the good news is that Dr. Cooper and the super-hip marketing department at the College of Emergency Physicians have come up with a slogan to drive their message home. Ready? It’s “When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors.” Not bad, not bad, but somehow we think it lacks the panache of the “When Bears Attack, Bite ‘Em Back” campaign we just completed for the local Sierra Club.

Comments