A starchy enigma has been bedeviling staff at the Wayland Free Public Library in Massachusetts: over the past two weeks, potatoes have been inexplicably appearing on the library’s front lawn. This unexplained occurrence has managed to attract national attention, garnering a segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
“This is the kind of news I hope to spend more time thinking about in 2021,” Colbert shared before unpacking the mystery. He goes on to speculate about whether the “taters of chaos” are “responding to some sort of primal potato call to assemble for the great potato uprising” or if Bigfoot may somehow be involved.
Wayland residents have been sharing their own theories on Facebook, positing everything from “TikTok shenangians” to “a game of hot potato gone awry.”
For now, library staff remain vexed. “One doesn’t even know what to think!” assistant director Andy Moore told WHDH. “One doesn’t randomly encounter tubers on the lawn.”
Check out the Late Show clip below:
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