WEBVTT

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This one, too, is
related to an event

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that happened here in Tucson,
actually just a few years ago.

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There was some strong storm, and
one street, all the telephone

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poles fell over, and
it was the wooden ones.

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So when they removed
them, they replaced them

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with the steel ones.

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Anyway, so it's sort of
related to rain, I guess.

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But it heads in a slightly
different direction.

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And in here, I also put in one
of the oldest corny linguistic

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jokes that you get in
Introduction to Linguistics.

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So I'll see if you catch it.

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And I call it "The Legacy
of Telephone Poles."

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And I also was just thinking
that it doesn't matter anymore

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about these telephone poles,
because people don't use them

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the way they used to
anyway, because of Facebook

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and instant messaging
and so forth.

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But anyway, you'll
see what I mean.

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"The Legacy of Telephone Poles."

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"The telephone poles all fell
over in a violent monsoon

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storm, lying head to toe
along the street like corpses.

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With the old wooden poles went
the legacy of the neighborhood.

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On the poles were large
staples, small ones, too,

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nails, tacks, tape,
and remnants of paper.

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These were the bits of
evidence of messages, signs,

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and stories, signs
inviting people

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to yard sales, garage sales,
estate and bake sales.

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The pieces of paper provided a
history of cars sold, traded,

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or stolen.

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They provided directions
to all sorts of parties--

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planned, but in
particular, impromptu ones.

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There were offers of all
types of cleaning services

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by daring individuals
too cheap to buy an ad.

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There was yard work, car
washing, pet grooming,

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and window cleaning,
and the occasional light

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housekeeping, though we are
far from any rocky shores.

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Tragedy was pasted
on those poles--

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lost dogs, cats,
children, and adults.

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The flyer of the family photo
of the dogs and cat, where

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the cat always looks so
sad, perhaps at anticipating

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wandering away from home,
as is the nature of cats,

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and that is what it was thinking
when the photo was taken.

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The children, on the
other hand, never

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looked sad in their
lost little girl photo,

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because no one ever
thought they would end up

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on the telephone pole as lost."

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Thank you very much.

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[APPLAUSE]