I was looking for a name for one gizmo sending a message to another. I knew that SQL had ‘triggers,' and Windows had SendMessage but I didn't like those names.
I got frustrated one night and started firing rubber bands at my screen to help me think. It was a habit I had back then to shake up my thinking. Probably more practical on a tough glass CRT than on a modern flat screen! After firing a few rubber bands, I was still stuck. So I fired up a doobie to see if that would help. As I flicked my lighter and looked at the fire, it all came together. Fire a rubber band. Fire up a doobie. Fire an event!
As someone whose first experience receiving money in exchange for code was writing Visual Basic, I am not surprised it was inspired by smoking weed.