"Let's dig into the science of stink. As a boy, I once owned a whoopee cushion. I thought it hilarious; my aging and extremely "proper" great aunt-God rest her soul-did not, and at one Thanksgiving dinner, she let me know. Chastened, I never used a whoopee cushion again. Nor, as the decades passed, did I think much more about the possible humor value of fake farts."
"Until this week, when I came across the strange case of Alexander Paul Robertson Lewis, who has been charged with a felony in South Carolina for-and let me quote from the official police press release here-using "an Internet-acquired spray designed to imitate fecal odor." The nanny state run amok? The criminalization of fun? Authorities who Just Can't Take A Joke? Not exactly."
"The 32-year-old Lewis worked as a teacher's assistant at the West Florence High School in Florence County, South Carolina. His duties did not, of course, include spraying anything "designed to imitate fecal odor" into the air. But according to police, Lewis was responsible for "creating a foul smell" at the school-not once, but for weeks. It was so dire that multiple students needed medical attention."
A childhood whoopee cushion was retired after an elderly relative disapproved. Alexander Paul Robertson Lewis, a 32-year-old teacher's assistant at West Florence High School in Florence County, South Carolina, has been charged with a felony for using an Internet-acquired spray designed to imitate fecal odor. Police allege Lewis created a persistent foul smell at the school over weeks, an odor severe enough that multiple students required medical attention. School officials initially suspected a gas leak, turned off non-kitchen gas as a precaution, and enlisted plumbers and the local gas utility to inspect gas lines, hallways, classrooms, rooftops, science labs, propane tanks, natural gas meters, and bathroom floor drains to rule out a leak.
Read at Ars Technica
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