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Connie,
I'm not familiar with the story, but it sounds an awful lot like something Rod Serling would have conceived. ... begin 'Twilight Zone' theme music...


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Connie - you are dead right about it being Douglas Adams - can't remember which book of the trilogy he appeared in - the fifth, I think (Mostly Harmless)

The lorry driver was, in fact and unbeknownst to himself, a rain god. He eventually realised his potential and made a fortune selling his services to third-world countries stricken with drought.


EDIT
No - it isn't Mostly Harmless - try Goodbye - and thanks for all the fish, which is the fourth book.

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a lorry driver that couldn't escape the rain

I think it was Douglas Adams, and one of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, Connie
(calling Max Quordlepleen!)
...though I may just be confusing it with another story where a lorry driver (or someone) is constantly being bugged () by flies. It turns out he is The Lord Of The Flies (but not William Golding's pig-on-a-stick) and didn't know it.

Ah! Is the other one a Terry Pratchett story? Quite close idea, though, as the lorry driver, it turns out, is a Rain God...

Edit: Rhuby beat me to the draw there!

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Carpal Tunnel
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So Long and Thanks For All The Fish was my first instinct. My mother always told me to trust my instincts 'cause I have good ones!

Well, now, the rain god of this story is a bit like what is being talked about here, I think. I have a brosin that has that unhappy tendency of causing discord wherever he roams. It isn't intentional on his part and the discord is never against him. He has other qualities that have prompted us to call him many things, none of which would apply to this theme. Maybe we should call him Erismus. Nonetheless, he finds himself constantly on the move, running from the discord that surrounds him. Maybe he should apply for Jerry Springer's job?


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Maybe he should apply for Jerry Springer's job?

Would he want Jerry Springer's job? Who'd want Jerry Springer's job? I've caught a few minutes of it in my lifetime and those few minutes left me feeling like giving up on the human race.

Hey! Maybe the noun for a socially destructive person could be a "jerryspringer"! Consuelo, I think you've done it again!

Battle regards,
WordWarrior


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How about eristor? Eris was the Greek goddess of discord.

http://www.messagenet.com/myths/bios/eris.html

WW, I was saying that perhaps he should apply for J. Springer's job so that he could earn a living from his natural talent. This same talent makes it quite difficult for him to earn a living in the "normal" way, much like the lorry-driving Rain God of Douglas Adams' story.


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Consuelo:

I was joking. It was a joke: read: JOKE.

Sheesh! Terrible thing to have people think you're being serious when you're not.

Off to polish up my style,
WordWorst


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How about eristor?

Or eristorator? He's a real eristorator, that one...never means any harm, but somehow his presence always rustles a fuss up.


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So Long and Thanks For All The Fish was my first instinct. My mother always told me to trust my instincts 'cause I have good ones

Well, your mother is dead right, Connie!
Received word from On High , and the lorry driver's name is Rob McKenna.

Here's a relevant (if slightly strange) link:
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/9846/strange/rainmake.html

I'm still sure there is a term for an unwitting sower of social discord. Maybe I dreamt it.


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not sure but i think it was in the long dark teatime of the souls
edit failed to read half this thread properly, apologies


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