23 June 1996

Jackson Pollock in Scotland

I learned that the maintenance worker at a railway station on Scotland's east coast was sacked after his supervisors noticed he had wasted a substantial amount of expensive reflective paint. His defense was as novel as it was ineffectual: "Jackson Pollock was in me."

His boss, familiar with the laborer's working methods, was not convinced. "Looks to me like the cheap whisky was in you again."

I didn't find the different explanations mutually exclusive; it's too bad they couldn't see things that way.