epidemic

Forget West Nile or Bird Flu, Challies tells us about an sickness that circles the globe at the speed of light.

Here's just one of the symptoms:

(KDWB-FM 101.3's) host Dave Ryan... asked folks if they were willing to give up their baby for 24 hours in exchange for one of Sony's highly coveted (PS3) video game consoles. More than a dozen people called to offer up their kids, but only a few realized it was all just a gag.

"We got more calls than we could handle," said Ryan, who referred to the practical joke as a "social experiment." "They were lined up willing to turn their kids over to strangers for a... PlayStation."

"There were a lot of phone calls that we didn't even get to, and I would say three- quarters of them were serious," said LaTart.

People with babies of all ages - including a 2-day-old and a 1-week-old - made it on air. One of the more serious sounding calls came from a woman named "Katie," who agreed to give up her 1-month-old for three days. She wanted to sell the PS3 on eBay to make some extra money for the holidays...

After announcing that the contest was a prank, "Katie" called the station and asked "does that mean I don't get the PlayStation?" She was clearly more than willing to give up her child to get her hands on this year's top gift. It seemed to her a small price to pay for a Playstation.

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