Your Madoff Number May Vary
One of my co-workers at Fire Opal Media tells an odd number of stories in which his former bosses ended up in jail. Confronted with the observation, he coined the term ‘Madoff Number.’ He has a Madoff Number of 3, counting the businessman who turned out to be a con man on the FBI’s Most Wanted List and the Army Reserve officer who was selling grenades and land mines on the black market.
My friend’s Madoff Number bumps up if you count his first boss from way back when he was a pizza deliveryman. The boss of the best pizza joint in town turned out to have mob connections and later died in a shootout with the police. I think that counts. Let’s call it a Madoff Number of 4.
I was commenting on this high Madoff Number to another friend who thought it wasn’t so unusual. He said, “Oh, y’know, stuff happens. I mean, I’ve had seven ships sink after I left them.”
“What? Seven ships you’ve been on sank after you left them? Out of how many? How many ships have you been on?”
“Oh, somewhere between twenty and twenty-five.” He is a biologist, environmental activist and a former fisheries inspector. The seven sinkings are the ones he is sure about, he hasn’t kept track of all his boats. One ship sank trying to get into Coos Bay in a storm. Another sank trying to slip between an island and a rock. And one was the infamous Tenyo Maru fishing trawler that got sliced in half by a freighter (and spilled oil on the beaches of the Olympic Peninsula).
If the number of bosses in jail is the Madoff Number, sinkings could rank as a Jonah Index. That’s not quite right, given the Jonah story, but it should do for now. I’m somewhat optimistic that no one reading this has a higher Jonah Index than 7. Madoff Number of 4? That may not be a winner.
My friend’s Madoff Number bumps up if you count his first boss from way back when he was a pizza deliveryman. The boss of the best pizza joint in town turned out to have mob connections and later died in a shootout with the police. I think that counts. Let’s call it a Madoff Number of 4.
I was commenting on this high Madoff Number to another friend who thought it wasn’t so unusual. He said, “Oh, y’know, stuff happens. I mean, I’ve had seven ships sink after I left them.”
“What? Seven ships you’ve been on sank after you left them? Out of how many? How many ships have you been on?”
“Oh, somewhere between twenty and twenty-five.” He is a biologist, environmental activist and a former fisheries inspector. The seven sinkings are the ones he is sure about, he hasn’t kept track of all his boats. One ship sank trying to get into Coos Bay in a storm. Another sank trying to slip between an island and a rock. And one was the infamous Tenyo Maru fishing trawler that got sliced in half by a freighter (and spilled oil on the beaches of the Olympic Peninsula).
If the number of bosses in jail is the Madoff Number, sinkings could rank as a Jonah Index. That’s not quite right, given the Jonah story, but it should do for now. I’m somewhat optimistic that no one reading this has a higher Jonah Index than 7. Madoff Number of 4? That may not be a winner.