Troy on Troy - You have to be shitting me!

I often tell the story about where the saying, “You’ve got to be shitting me!” came from. It goes something like this:

General George Washington was leading his troops across the Potomac River during the Revolutionary War. It was in the dead of winter and as you can imagine, the weather was terrible. His men were exhausted from days of battle with almost nothing to eat. Finally, they cross the chilly waters of the river and make it to the other side. General Washington realizes his men can’t go much further. He has a few that are wounded, the worst being Sergeant Cox and they just needed to bed down. Right up the bank of the river is a very small farm. He bangs on the door of the tiny cottage and after a brief conversation, the farmer agrees to take in the wounded Sergeant but hasn’t the room or food for the rest of the men, they would have to keep searching.

After traveling about a mile, General Washington sees a glow coming from just over a hill. He leads his men over the hill and to everyone’s surprise, the lights are coming from a large building. There are neon lights and loud music. It’s a bordello. Washington goes to the front door and pounds on the heavy wood. A very large Madame opens the door wearing colorful feather boas and draped in a flowing silk gown. She smiles and says in her sexiest May West voice, “How can I help you solider?” The General is shocked at first but gains his composure and tells her he needs lodging and food for his men. She smiles and says, “My pleasure! How many men are there?” General Washington thinks for just a second and then says, “There are 150 of us without Cox.” The Madame takes a step back and says, “You’ve got to be shitting me!”

That is the story I have told for years but that story will never cross my lips again. There is now a new story that makes that outrageous tale look realistic. My new story goes something like this:

It was a chilly fall morning and I was just waking up to a cup of coffee. I turned on the TV to see what was happening in the world. One of the Fox News babes was letting everyone who was listening know that our President, who has served for less than a year had just won the Nobel Peace Prize. I called out to Rebecca and said, “You’re not going to believe this. Barack Obama was just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.” She took a step back and tilted her head just a little to the side. (She looked just like a puppy that was trying to figure out a weird noise.) She looks me right in the eye and says, “You have got to be shitting me.”

That is the story I will tell from this point on as to where the saying comes from.

Fight On!

Troy