The Infamous Jackalope Incident

Let's kick off with a bang.

Several years ago I was in a butcher shop in Brooklyn, buying ham for a dinner party. Afshin was there to be my meat mule (which sounds a lot filthier than it was—he was helping me carry the ham and other assorted supplies). While we waited to be served, Afshin pointed to an animal head mounted on the wall and said to me, "Look, a jackalope."

I stared at the head—it was a rabbit head with antlers, by golly, mounted on a plaque. "They're real?!" I squealed.

Afshin's expression was a mixture of bemusement and contempt. "No, of course they're not real."

Is it my fault he sounded so authoritative?

Not long after the incident, Afshin was telling his friend Simon the story. He got to the part about the jackalope head on the wall when Simon interrupted him with:

"Wait, you mean they're real?"

I told you he sounded authoritative.