How NPR made me feel foolish

NPR had a report today that said people are getting eye surgery so they can watch 3-D movies and TV without wearing "those ridiculous glasses."  It turned out it was an April Fools Day joke, but I was totally taken in.

Those of you who got the joke are now saying, "C'mon, it was SO obvious. How could you not know it was a fake?"

Well, yes, getting surgery to watch 3D movies does seem pretty ridiculous, but I live in Southern California where people do ridiculous things to their bodies all the time. Pec implants, anyone? Nipple ring? How about injecting poison (Botox) into your skin?

This report was done in totally straight NPR style so it wasn't obvious that it was a joke unless you listened to it carefully. I bet there's a lot of people like me who are sort of half-listening to NPR while driving. Sure, I thought the report was real, but at the time I was also not trying hit anyone as I changed lanes. I didn't hear the sly reference to April 1, 2012 – the only nod toward April Fools Day. It wasn't until later that someone mentioned the story that I discovered it was a joke.

In the end, rather than enjoying a good laugh, I feel like NPR sucker-punched me.

You can hear the "story" here.

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