So, last Saturday was supposed to be The End, right? And how did the Salerni family spend that day? Well, the hard-working and responsible members of the family (Bob and Gina) spent the day making needed repairs at our Pocono house and meeting prospective tenants. The goof-off members of the family (Gabbey and I) spent the day fooling around and playing on the internet.
I blame Dave Singleton who, on Saturday morning, posted this link on Facebook. Apparently, the challenge was to photograph your own “rapture” scenario. Where were YOU when you got taken? No further prompting needed; Gabbey and I got right to work.
It was a gorgeous day, at least in Pennsylvania. Perfect for riding your bike:
Or cleaning the pool:
Of course, Gabbey prefers to stay inside working on her novel:
And everybody knows how I spend my time:
After posting the pictures on Facebook and Twitter, we spent the rest of the day cracking up over all the other ones that were posted. Honestly, I didn’t think my own “rapture” photo was particularly original, but somehow it got picked up by Mashable in their Top Ten. (Definitely check these out! Some are hilarious!)
The biggest surprise came on Sunday when I got an email from the crew at ABC World News with David Muir. They were doing a rapture story and wanted permission to use my photo. Uh … yeah, sure. And darned if they didn’t show it on the 6:30 pm news.
The news story as a whole was very serious and somber, spotlighting believers who spent their entire life savings to “warn the world” and are now left with nothing. Nothing – no savings, no job, and in some cases, no home. Meanwhile, Muir pointed out that most of the world thought the entire thing was a joke – and on came a 10 second parade of prank Twitter photos, including mine – which made me feel kind of insensitive.
I meant no disrespect to those people who deeply believed Judgment Day had arrived. But if it HAD been the last day, at least I spent it laughing. And I can’t think of a better way to go.
You weren’t making fun of those people at all. You (and lots of others, I might add) were making fun of the idea that some dude could do a few math equations and come up with the time a supernatural event would occur. I completely agree–you shared a day of laughter with your daughter. In my opinion, that should be considered a highly productive day! And those pictures are hilarious.
IT makes you wonder, though, what the lives of these people are like that they wanted the Rapture so badly. Not that they had to live the high life, but I would think if you had something to stay for–family, friends, hopefully a mission or a cause–you’d want to be here and keep all that going.
Well, if you’re insensitive, then I am too, because I’m laughing myself silly at your pictures. 😉
Oh ABC news. It figures. They’re all about the negative. LOL I thought it was funny in any case!
Okay, that’s too funny. You were way more creative with how you spent your “final” day than I was. I don’t even remember what I was doing (not writing, though).
I saw so many of the pictures! Too funny. I can’t believe I didn’t think of doing it. Oh wait!! I’ll go take a picture of the floor of my 17yr-old. Looks like lots of folks were gathered up. lol
I love your pictures. But does that mean that everyone who goes up in the Rapture is going to be naked?
Awkward!
Oh, too funny. I love it. And in case you hadn’t heard, that minister is now saying that he made a slight miscalculation, and the end has now been re-scheduled for October.
Those are GREAT– saw them on FB too last week, and I get why it would feel insensitive being part of that story. But there are always two ways to look at every situation, ya know?
Thanks for the linky Dianne; since the semester ended three weeks ago, I’ve seen my daily traffic go from 50 to 75 hits/day (as students check their grades in Blackboard–it’s a captive audience) to 0 hits/day. Maybe now it’ll creep back up a bit.
No need to feel insecure about this, as Camping is moving the goal posts of the Rapture criteria again. I feel no remorse in making fun of it. Just make sure that you don’t let the 15 minutes of Internet fame go to your head. John Scalzi has remarked on his writing blog that he will never be as famous as his cat.
Loved this! I was in Key West last Saturday and saw one woman dressed as an angel with a halo that lit up, a guy dressed as Jesus, etc. It seemed like people everywhere were having fun with this.