After this, a headline writer would have nothing left to strive for

Bryan Caskey brought the above headline to my attention last night. I don’t know where he found it.

It prompts three thoughts:

The journalistic pedant in me protests that this is not a headline. It’s a lede and a good bit of the next graf. But hey, kudos to whoever had the sand to decide to hell with the rules; we’re gonna get all of this into the headline! But then, what choice did the editor have? What were they going to do, leave out the part about the guy she waved at being dressed as a Snickers bar?
As I Tweeted to Bryan in reply, “After that, the headline writer died happy….” I mean, seriously, what does he have to look forward to after that? He’s never going to top it.
If the copy editor did decide to cling to life — as we humans are wont to do — he should retire from his job at the tabloid, turn this headline into a country song and head to Nashville. Fame awaits.

9 thoughts on “After this, a headline writer would have nothing left to strive for”

Brad Warthen Post authorSeptember 16, 2015 at 1:49 pm

And Bryan, don’t send me something like that so late in the evening. How’s a guy supposed to sleep after reading something like that?

Bryan Caskey September 16, 2015 at 2:34 pm

I think it was Ben Franklin who once famously said, “Jilted lesbians wearing sumo wrestling suits are not to be trifled with.”

Well, it was either him or Geraldo. I can’t recall for sure.

Bryan Caskey September 16, 2015 at 2:35 pm

Oh, and I got it from Twitter. My timeline is real interesting.

Brad Warthen Post authorSeptember 16, 2015 at 4:45 pm

And you know, there is a surprising abundance of pictures on the Web of women in sumo wrestler suits…

Jeff Mobley September 16, 2015 at 4:51 pm

You know, from the headline, you can’t tell with absolute certainty whether it was the victim or the assailant who waved at the Snickers Bar guy.

Jeff Mobley September 16, 2015 at 4:57 pm

I’m not sure which way of reading it produces a more absurd imagined scene.
Brad Warthen Post authorSeptember 16, 2015 at 5:05 pm

I’m pretty sure it was the victim. Doesn’t make much sense the other way…
1. Kathryn Fenner September 16, 2015 at 5:31 pm
  
  I think it was the waved-to man who was dressed as a Snickers bar, based on proximity.
  
  I also thought the dress was white and gold.