Why everyone who ate carrots in Phoenix in 1872 is dead now


As someone with a goofy sense of humor, and a strong sense of logic, I get a big kick out of seeing mistakes being made by people through lack of logic, and knowledge. In fact, we all do this, and my journey to learn things was inspired by my wanting to know "what the joke was?"

Of course everyone who ate carrots in Phoenix, or anywhere else, in 1872 is dead now, it was over 140 years ago, and people just don't live that long. There's no reason to be outraged at the carrots that may have been served to customers at Gardiner's Hotel. Carrots have nothing to do with it, it's just that it was 1872.

When I was a kid, a lot of this type of humor passed me by, and it irritated me. The grownups would say something and laugh and I'd have no idea what it meant. Whether I knew or not that people didn't live for over 140 years when I was eight years old I have no idea, but I'd be sure not to eat carrots! When I asked the grownups to explain it to me, the usual answer was that if it had to be explained, it wouldn't be funny. But I still wanted an explanation.

If you're like me, you discovered libraries at an early age. I was one of those kids with thick glasses and messy hair who read a lot of books. And in a long life, I've stayed that kid. And I'd like to believe that it's made me a better person, and a better teacher. I don't expect everyone to know everything, which would be very silly and very illogical. But when I was a kid I wanted to know everything, and I've never outgrown that, so I'll keep learning.

Thank you for eating carrots with me in Phoenix in 1872!

Image at the top of this post: Gardiner's Hotel in 1872, northwest corner of Washington and 3rd Street, Phoenix, Arizona. Whether people ate carrots there, I have no idea, but I know that they're all dead by now.
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