Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from ...

110 SKIES AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGHT
A final note on this topic: I know for a fact that I would fall for
that old boy scout tube trick. Why? Because a variation got me
when I was about seven or eight years old, except I was told it was
a coordination test. I was supposed to roll up a paper plate, put it
in the front of my pants so that it stuck out a few centimeters, balance
a rock on my nose, and then tilt my head forward so that the
rock fell into the rolled-up paper plate.
As soon as I tilted my head back one of the other kids poured
a glass of ice cold water into the paper-plate tube. This incident
may have mentally scarred me for life; I still shrink away from picnics
featuring paper plates. For all I know, the stunt gave me a
core of vehemence against such things, which in turn led to the
book you are holding in your hands right now. So, I say to those
older kids who played such a mean trick on a naive young kid:
thanks!