"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." –John 16:33

Smithereens and Buckminster Fuller

Two of the standing jokes in the Chapman household have to do with one time when we were driving somewhere and Christian saw a drive-through restaurant on the side of the road named Fast Eddie’s Burgers.

He asked me, “What is that place, Dad?”

I told him it was a Chinese food place owned by a guy named Slow Steve. I really do not think he was asking me what they did there, I think, based on something we were discussing earlier, was asking me whether it was part of a chain or an independent restaurant. It seemed funny at the time (the kids were MUCH younger then) and we laughed heartily.

A few years later, we were looking at some descriptions of some chemicals for a class or something and Christian asked me, “Why did they name it buckminsterfullerene?”

I told him they wanted to name it after a guy named Steve Smith, but they did not want to call it Smitereen, so they called it buckminsterfullerene instead. I don’t know whether it was the same guy who owned Fast Eddie’s Burgers.
Are those two stories somehow connected?

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5 Comments

  1. Eric

    This is definitely what I would refer to as a “location” joke … you had to be there.

  2. Hunter

    I read an article in Wired about “Bucky”. He was a GENIUS!

  3. Dad

    Exactly!!! You DO understand!

  4. Bryan

    I thought the writers strike was over?

  5. Dad

    Hey! That stuff was some of my best material. What is wrong with you guys?

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