A Bertrange man who for days has been spreading a message of meteorological doom is still insisting that temperatures this week will reach 40 degrees, despite weather forecasts that now say otherwise.
Last Wednesday, Jonas Gottfried was the first among his peers to discover news of this week’s heat wave. His formerly meaningless life was suddenly given importance, so with great zealotry he began delivering his grave warning, opening every social encounter with “it’s going to be 40 degrees by mid-week, they say.”
“They actually said it would only get up to 37 or 38 degrees, but I rounded up to 40 not to exaggerate, but because it’s intelligent to apply a small margin of error,” he later admitted. “Plus, when you say 40 and tell people that’s as hot as the Sahara, that really gets their attention and a feeling of superiority shoots right through you, from your bum to the tip of your nose.”
When on Tuesday morning several colleagues pointed out to Gottfried that the forecast had been revised, and that high temperatures are now only expected to reach 35 at most, the desperate man adamantly disagreed.
“That’s fake news, don’t you see?” he said. “Last week they said it’s going to be 40 degrees, and I’m sure it’s going to be 40 degrees. Please believe me. I need this validation.”