Stan Bowes, from Diggle, has uncovered some interesting and entertaining facts – you just couldn’t make them up
ANNA AYALA, 39, found something unpleasant in her bowl of beef chilli at a Wendy’s fast food outlet in San Jose, California, in March 2005.
She spat out a 1½ inch long human finger-tip and then vomited.
In spite of being assured by health officials there was no health risk, she announced she was suing the food chain and publicity lost Wendy’s an estimated $3 million as a result of plummeting sales.
But all was not as it seemed. Research showed the finger-tip had not been cooked and Anna had a history of vexatious litigation.
Wendy’s offered a $100,000 reward for information and discovered the finger-tip had belonged to Brian Rossiter, who had severed it in a work-place accident. He worked with Anna’s husband, who bought the finger-tip for $80 to be used in the scam!
ON THE other hand (pun intended), some diners can be decidedly mean. In May 2005, Clarence Stowers really did find ‘something chewy’ – a finger-tip – in some ice-cream he bought in North Carolina.
He had bought the ice-cream at drive-through outlet Kohl’s Frozen Custard only minutes after an employee had severed his finger.
He returned to complain but in spite being told it was possible for the finger to be reattached if it reached hospital quickly, he refused to hand it over – saying he wanted to keep it as vital evidence when he sued the outlet.
Improve your vocabulary
Mallemaroking: Suppose you are on an old-time whaling ship, and you somehow manage to get caught in frozen seas. You don’t know how long you could be stuck there, and have to find something to while away the long, dark nights. So you organize a sing-song, lubricated with copious quantities of alcohol. If you took part in such a party, you would be mallemaroking.
Petrichor: With the last few months of excessively damp weather, it is becoming even more obscure than ever. Petrichor is the sweet smell of rain on dry earth.
Apophthegms
Never buy a car you can’t push
You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him
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