The sense in the nonsense on this claim is grounded in the allegation that most everyone in at least the USA has some connection to Scranton. Many would take it beyond our borders.
Personally, I've found it to hold some water, plenty of leaks, mind you, but some water. For example, try the following on for size:
My first adventure far west took me to Idaho. It was a long day.
My memory's a little fuzzy on the details. What I do know is that it began at AVP, took three airlines, four flights, nearly nine hours before landing in Idaho. If you don't know Idaho, first get comfortable with the fact that Iowa and Idaho are not the same place. Then let me say that Idaho is one of the most beautiful states in our union, maybe not so much as Utah, but really close. Gorgeous, lightly populated, and simply spectacular. Wide open spaces? A four-hour round trip just to have dinner is not uncommon among Idahoans.
Within an hour of landing in Idaho, at Pocatello Airport, I'd met a guy who was born and raised in Edwardsville, which would be the Edwardsville right next to Larksville. I mean Kingston, Edwardsville, Larksville. True story.
Several years ago, the "Scranton" bubble burst.
It was Announced that Olyphant, Pennsylvania, very close to Scranton for those unfamiliar, was really the center of the universe. Start here and join the enlightened.If that doesn't shove your oars in the water nice and deep, do this one.
There's more, but that's an ample start. Once you get good, then we can talk the Carbondale UFO controversy.
Let's not achieve overload here.
For now, the matter at hand is a recent drive to Olyphant.
An easy trip for most in these parts, especially for those who've been through Olyphant uncountable times, like me.
I've known Olyphant since family trips to Eynon Drug/Sugarman's in dad's '54 Packard.
When 12 or 13, I used to ride my bicycle up the Boulevard, take a right at Dickson City Corners, and pedal on out to Olyphant and come on back home in under an hour.
Then there were high school events at "d'urn," alternately known as The Urn.
The Urn was right down Olyphant's Lackawanna Avenue from "d'anker," which also has an alternate name, that being The Anchor, a vets and war monument from WWII that sits at Blakely Corners. Got any or all of that?
Olyphant is home to Bosak's, Blakely is the same to Kutsop's, both said to have wonderful kielbasi, smoked of course. I will attest to such.
There was positively no need for me to use my GPS to get to Olyphant and Bosak's. But, really, why have a toy if you can't play with it? I punched in Bosak's address before pulling out of the driveway at home, then ignored the voice - I use the female - until forty minutes or so later when I pulled into Olyphant, whereupon things got strange in a hurry.
Any GPS can be wrong, as indicated in a previous post. Given the enormity of what that little box stuck to your windshield can do, it's not surprising that mistakes happen.
What I had here, though, was mistake after mistake after mistake. Once in Olyphant, my GPS couldn't get a street right. Just for squats and chuckles, I kept turning the opposite of where it told me to turn. It would then recalculate quickly.
Each time, it was wrong.
Each time, I kept hearing to "Turn right at..." Invariably, there was no such street.
Knowing full well where Bosak's is, on the Burke By-Pass, my earth to satellite communications were severely confused. Should I be circling Mars looking for a landing, I'd be screwed.
Streets that were nowhere to be seen, 500 feet to a non-existent intersection, turn left where there is no left, and several times the directions took me away from my destination, not towards it. I loved every second of it.
And I loved the kielbasi, both Kutsop's and Bosak's. The delightful young lady at Kutsop's was right about the horseradish and red beets (known by serious old country adherents as "hreen." You'll need to roll the h and the r to pronounce properly.). It was hotter than the hinges of Hades. I loved every spoonful.
Away from kielbasi and back to Olyphant, is this a town with some mystical powers? Is this a borough placed upon the planet by beings beyond ourselves?
Heck if I know.
My GPS seems not to know, either.
Go for the kielbasi, anything else is a bonus.
