Before there were urban beer legends, there were the original urban legends—shocking, provocative tales with twist endings and murky origins. Here’s a handful of the all-time classics, plus their psychological implications and how they’re linked to beer culture…
Attack of the Giant Sewer Gators
NYC kids buy baby alligators, then flush them after the novelty of caring for a pet reptile quickly wears off. Once dispatched to the New York sewers, the gators survive and thrive, becoming super-predators. Also told with these twists: 1) the sunlight-deprived lizards mutate, turning albino; and 2) the gators somehow snake their way back up the pipes to “visit” their original owners. (Ouch!)
Psychological Implication:
Sometimes we’re at our most vulnerable when sitting—if you know what I mean.
Little-Known Beer Fact:
The albino gator hook was added to spice up the original source story. Actually, it was just a bad batch of barleywine that got flushed.
