Coin Glued To The Ground Prank Goes Disastrously Wrong

Status: Weird News
Gluing a coin to the ground and then watching as people attempt, unsuccessfully, to pick it up, has to be one of the oldest street pranks around. It dates back hundreds of years. It's a very simple prank, and I would never have imagined it could be viewed as dangerous or threatening. But somehow a prankster who glued some quarters to the ground at the Kosciusko County Fair in Indiana almost managed to shut down the entire fair. The Times-Union reports:
A prankster glued a couple of quarters to the blacktop on the south side of the Home and Family Arts Building Thursday at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds. A young woman spied the 50 cents and reached down to claim the quarters as her own. The glue was still wet so she went into the Home and Family Arts Building to wash the substance off. A chemical reaction with the water caused blisters on her fingers.

That’s when the panic started, according to Fair Board President Randy Shepherd. An ambulance was dispatched. Since no one really knew what was on the coins, the emergency medical technician called the county’s emergency response team. Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrived at the scene.

"The area beside the Good News Caboose was quarantined, the ambulance was quarantined, a decontamination area was set up at the hospital and soon word got out that the fairgrounds was closed," Shepherd said. "It was a fiasco and it just kept growing. Everyone is OK. The young woman was dismissed from the hospital. The fairgrounds never closed and events will go on as usual."
I'm wondering what kind of glue could have been on those quarters. I suppose that some kinds of super-glue could cause blisters. Though it's odd that the blisters only formed when the glue mixed with water.

Pranks

Posted on Sat Jul 22, 2006


Comments

It must have been some of that water with hydrogen in it. Maybe it was global warming's fault the glue didn't dry fast enough. Seeing as how it now costs more to make an American Penny than it is actually worth, I wonder when quarters will not be valuable enough for the prank and people have to start using the poorly recieved dollar coin.
Posted by Lonewatchman  on  Sat Jul 22, 2006  at  11:54 AM
Superglue is a cyanoacrylate resin. It also has the peculiar property of getting very warm very fast when it reacts with water. They probably used superglue to glue the quarters down, the girl picked them up, got them wet, and they got very hot, giving her a blister. Just a heat burn, not a chemical one.
Posted by Brett  on  Sat Jul 22, 2006  at  10:19 PM
...and that's why the money taken from New York City's Homeland Security funding has been given to the Kosciusko County Fair. We cannot allow terrorists to glue quarters to the ground next to the Home and Family Arts Building!
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Sun Jul 23, 2006  at  01:57 AM
This is the very serious business, you know? Peoples can be hurt by these jokes, okay? I do not think it was too funny. They should have nailed down the quarters, and shot the lady in the ass with a bb gun when she bent over. Now, that would be too funny. Okay, don't get mad at Raoul, okay? I was just making the joke. I love the women and would not shoot one in the ass with the bb gun. Not unless she plead with me to do so, after a night of boundless passion. Then I would, for am I not: Raoul, Great Pleaser of Women and Champion Ass Shooter? I am fooling you again, okay. It is too easy some times, you know? What a bunch of kidders. Rrrraoul
Posted by Raoul  on  Sun Jul 23, 2006  at  09:07 AM
man, I won't even bother to bend over for a couple of quarters. It would take a lot more change than that to get me to bend...overr...Uhh-that didn't come out right, lemme start over: ahem. It costs more than two quarters to make me- you know what- forget it. I need some Bosco
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Sun Jul 23, 2006  at  01:33 PM
I'd reckon it's Loctite, 502 or something similiar. These are also very watery in nature and dries rather slowly on certain surfaces, notably metallic ones. And yes, they give a burning sensation, even if you don't get them near water. Heck, there is even the danger of your skin tearing off should it get stuck to the coins because of the strength of the glue.
Posted by RAMChYLD  on  Sun Jul 23, 2006  at  10:00 PM
Hairy Houdini said:

"man, I won't even bother to bend over for a couple of quarters. It would take a lot more change than that to get me to bend...overr...Uhh-that didn't come out right, lemme start over: ahem. It costs more than two quarters to make me- you know what- forget it. I need some Bosco"

Um, how much Bosco does it take to get you to bend over?
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Mon Jul 24, 2006  at  01:24 AM
Rrraoul, you crack me up:)
Posted by outeast  on  Mon Jul 24, 2006  at  04:28 AM
This country is going insane.

Fear! Fear! Run! Hide! Terrorists everywhere!!!

Give me a freaking break and calm the flip down.

Our government has managed to scare us all into such a state of paranoia that they're able to trample the Constitution and distract us from the gigantic deficits they're running up as the economy goes through the floor and oil companies have excuses to seel us gasoline for twice the price they charged us before the fake war in Iraq.
Posted by SoxSweepAgain  on  Mon Jul 24, 2006  at  09:07 AM
Gluing quarters to the sidewalk is for pikers.

You want a good prank, try gluing sidewalks to quarters. Then watch people try to put them in their pockets.

Ha!
Posted by Big Gary  on  Tue Jul 25, 2006  at  05:58 PM
"Gorilla Glue" and the like require water to cure. Without water it cures very slowly or not at all. It's like aerobic (reguires air to cure) or anaerobic. (reguires the absence of air to cure) Maybe hydros and anhydros?
Posted by Jerry  on  Thu Jul 27, 2006  at  09:36 AM
Cool.
Posted by Snape  on  Sun Oct 17, 2010  at  05:55 PM
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