mamerblog

the onion

Growing up in Milwaukee and now living in Madison, The Onion newspaper has always been a staple in my life. As a kid, my dad would periodically bring it home from work and show me the headlines. I’m pretty sure he assumed that I knew it was a satire. Although I generally like to remember myself as a remarkably perceptive kid, the reality is that my eleven year-old self found these headlines believable. I spent my childhood reading The Onion at face value.

I can actually remember the exact moment I realized that The Onion was fake. It was 2001, I was in sixth grade, and the headline was “Hamster Thrown From Remote-Control Monster Truck.” This was front-page story, complete with pictures, interviews, and witness reports. I skeptically read it, then turned to my dad and asked, “Wait… this isn’t real, is it?” He laughed and responded, “What do you think?”

From then on, I was a changed person. I picked up free copies of The Onion whenever I could, and my own personal sense of humor began to develop. I also discovered the Savage Love column, by which I was routinely shocked and disturbed in a very profound way.

On a side note, the front-page story “Meth Addicts Demand Government Address Nation’s Growing Spider Menace” is by far my favorite article.