This is the day that Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity. So a mischievous electrical story. In my high school we were all required to take metal shop. we lathed metal products. As a result we produced a lot of metallic shavings. We would begin collecting the shavings toward the end of the school year. Most of us go to school by the GG subway line, the Flatbush Avenue stop. On the last day of school we would take pocketfuls of the metal shavings. While waiting for the train we would fling the metal shavings at the third rail. For those unfamiliar with the subway lingo, the third rail was the high powered electrical source that animated the subway.
When our shavings made contact with that third rail the sparks would fly, making for quite an end of school year "fireworks". One year, so many shavings made contact at the same time that we shorted out the power at the Flatbush Avenue GG subway stop. It took a few hours for the power to be reestablished and the GG ran again. Try explaining that as the reason for coming home late from school.
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