In Honour of Friday the 13th We’ve Rounded Up This Year’s Weirdest Stories – You’re Welcome!
Could it be a sign that this is the first Friday the 13th since we started lockdown in March?
If you’re a superstitious person, maybe the last nine months have all been one long bad luck setback. Or, maybe the significance of the 13th is lucky for you as it is in my culture, and if that’s the case, you have high hopes that good luck will finally start coming the world’s way soon.
Regardless of which side of the coin you believe in, in honour of today being Friday the 13th, we thought we’d round up the weirdest and funniest stories that have come out since the last one.
You’re welcome!
5. I Want Chicken Tonight
Fairly recently, news came out about a Georgia woman who posed as an FBI agent to fetch free food. Now facing charges, police say she posed as a federal agent and demanded free food from employees at a local Chick-fil-A.
According to The Toronto Sun, Kimberly Ragsdale, 47, was arrested and charged with impersonating a public officer. Employees dialled 911 following her latest attempt to score a complimentary meal, according to an arrest report posted by the Rockmart Police Department. She was booked Nov. 5 into the Polk County Jail and released on US $3,000 bail after a two-day stint behind bars.
If that’s not great FREE PR for Chick-fil-A to spark demand, I don’t know what is!
4. Brazil Meets Harry Potter
Coming in at number four, is the Brazilian duo that glided through Sao Paulo streets with broomsticks for Muggles – “non-magic people.” Inventing a novel way of getting from point A to B – Vinícius Sanctus, 39, and Alessandro Russo, 28, were seen coasting down the city’s main thoroughfares on a pair of broomsticks, each one attached to a single motorized wheel.
“I tell my friends that now I only go to the bakery using my broom. But it’s not a joke. I actually do that,” said Russo, whose waistcoat and golden tie would not be out of place at Hogwarts, the school of magic attended by Potter. “I use my broom as a means of transportation nowadays. And it’s so fun.”
So far, the brooms for Muggles are largely limited to personal use, but Russo and Sanctus have plans to market and sell the broomsticks, which cost about 4,000 reais (US$740) each and can reach top speeds of 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph), according to Reuters.
3. Work(out) from home
Getting couped up in your house? Missing the gym? Elisha Nochomovitz, a restaurant server from Balma, France, found a way to change that.
COVID-19 disrupted his plans to compete in the Barcelona marathon on March 15. “He decided he would run anyway—42 kilometres back and forth on his 23-foot balcony. The journey took six hours and 48 minutes—significantly slower than his three-and-a-half-hour marathon best. Nevertheless, he shared the feat on social media and inspired house-bound runners around the world to take to their stairs, gardens or balconies to stay in top form.” — Rebecca Philps, Reader’s Digest
2. All Roads Point To?
We’ve all looked up at a cluster of street signs and wondered, “can I park here right now?!”
But, a new P.E.I. intersection that requires almost a dozen instructional videos to explain to drivers and pedestrians how to use it takes the cake. The P.E.I. government has produced no less than 11 online videos to show drivers how to navigate a new intersection in Charlottetown, described as the first of its kind in Canada, reads The Toronto Sun article.
The strangely hypnotic instructional videos, produced with detailed computer animation, show every conceivable option for drivers approaching the redesigned roadways safely.
This is one story that really sells how SIMPLE solutions are often best, but outside-of-the-box options can strike up national attention.
1. I Believe I Can Fly
Last but not least! I know I can speak for everyone when I say, “I miss travelling.” TikTok has a whole series of videos that poke fun at the fact that women can’t wait to walk down the aisle (plane aisle that is) and hear those heartwarming words – “this is your captain speaking.”
This past summer, Songshan Airport in downtown Taipei took it to a new level. On three separate occasions “they allowed 60 passengers the chance to check in, collect their boarding passes, clear security, wait at their gate and board a China Airlines Airbus. The plane’s destination? Nowhere. The groups were the lucky winners of a contest that let people role-play a day at the airport. Once the passengers boarded, though, their trip came to an anticlimactic end.” —Suzannah Showler, Reader’s Digest
Sources: Reuters, Toronto Sun, Huffington Post and Reader’s Digest