Rat jokes

On most days, it's hardly surprising to learn that somebody might walk into City Hall and loudly proclaim that they smell a rat. It just isn't always quite so literal as this.

According to these sources, the city recently decided to exterminate the rodents in the hall. But while it may have succeeded in culling the rodent population, it also apparently left a lot of carcasses in its wake, which as they decomposed have apparently released a potent cloud of noxious fumes into the building.

According to one source, there could be thousands of rat corpses left behind in city hall and that some of the bodies may have "exploded," presumably due to the petrification process.

NOPD's stoner rats declined to comment.

That's Gambit's John Stanton sharing the scuttlebutt with us there. I think he means "putrefaction process" instead of petrification there. Don't worry. We'll get that cleaned up in copy editing before it goes to publish. 

I've been watching everyone's similarly labored attempts online to merge the previous popular rodent meme with the most recent one and I think I may have it. 

When you walk into City Hall and start to go woozy from the putrefied rat fumes, does that mean you are also high?

Right?

Folks?

Better?

Okay maybe not. 

Anyway, I'm sure it smells petty bad. But, as someone who has been around the block a few times, I should point out that this "thousands of dead rats in the walls" story is a common urban legend in New Orleans. (And probably in a lot of other cities too.) It's a tall tale I've heard a few times from different bosses or co-workers. There's always a story about a building downtown where so-and-so "used to work" when they opened up the walls for some reason and found the Khmer Rouge of rats in there. 

This doesn't mean there isn't some truth to it. Animals do die and rot in buildings sometimes and it is unpleasant.  I just think John's source on the "could be thousands of rat corpses" angle is probably repeating a version of the popular hearsay. 

Consider also that the culture at City Hall is very, well, anti-City Hall as a physical space.  In March, the city approved a land swap agreement with the state that should clear the way to construct a new building just across Perdido Street.  I don't think a construction timeline has been announced yet, though. And there are likely several steps remaining toward approving a budgetary allocation all of which will require continuing political pressure.  So any number of exploding rat carcasses can probably help with that. 

The more of those that can be conjured, the better. Which is another reason you are probably reading about "thousands" of them today.  Recall that dubious rat memes helped move NOPD into a suspicious deal for a new HQ this year. Might as well stick with what works.