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"The Zipsters" (From Interstellar Highway commentary)
Rob Herrick wrote:Something about Ensign Zipster seems off - like I had missed his introduction. Have we met him before? Also, why would an admiral keep a zero like Zipster on his staff, or let him near anything like a serious briefing?
Stuart wrote:Because it's very, very convenient to have somebody completely worthless around that one can then ladle all the blame on. An expendable trouble-sponge so to speak.
The Zipsters are a concept Tony Preston and I came up with many years ago. The idea was that every great disaster in maritime history was caused by various members of a single family. It was, for example, Lt (JG) Zipster who left the words "The world wonders" in and Ensign El Zipstero who told the Spanish Armada they didn't have to worry about fireships. Commander Lord Zipster told Nelson that he should wear all his medals at Trafalgar to encourage his men. Then there was Captain Zipamoto who set sail in Shinano without closing the watertight doors and Von Zipstein who told Lutjens that ships never got torpedoed in the screws. Then there was gunnery officer Zipster to told Admiral Beatty it was OK to leave the flashtight doors open. We never got around to starting the stories so the Zipsters crop up now and then in the TBOverse as a sort of tribute to Tony.
Yes, I've met a few such.
Peroptimists to a fault...
Those more Murphy-aware would shake their heads, mutter, "What could possibly go wrong ??"
Count the ways...
