Its A Crazy Crazy World

Sometimes you just need a good laugh.  Or a moment to reflect on how much crazier your already crazy life could be. January has been one of those months for me. Its been ugly and emotional yet uplifting and comforting at the same time. In reflecting upon the past thirty-one days I realize that despite all of the ups and downs, my life is a very good one. I have the love of my family and friends, my husband and I are gainfully employed, and we have many opportunities that others could only dream about.  Yes I am grateful.  But as I reflect on the past month I'm reminded that there really is a lot of crazy out there.  Here's a sampling of recent news stories that will either make you laugh or cry or perhaps a little of both. 

• At least I'm not the mother of Matthew Todd the Boaz, Alabama man who, while intoxicated, used an ambulance, pair of horses and a stolen SUV to evade police. His downfall?  Returning to the same hospital where he stole the ambulance to seek medical treatment.  Click on this link to read all of the details. (Or for proof I'm not making this one up).

• I'm thankful I didn't have to attend this funeral.  The late David S. Kime Jr of York, Pennsylvania, was such a fan of Burger King's Whoppers, that his funeral procession included a stop in a Burger King drive through where 39 Whopper Jr. sandwiches were distributed to mourners with the 40th reserved for the man of honor.  This story can be found here as proof that the story is real.

• Yet another reason to avoid fast food restaurants--especially those that are located inside of a Walmart.  Luis Martinez, an employee of an Orlando, Florida Subway restaurant was fired after engaging in a confrontation with a customer who wanted ketchup on his Philly cheesesteak sandwich.  Apparently Subway doesn't stock ketchup as a condiment and the argument only escalated from there.

• And in another Orlando story, would be car jackers had to abort their mission when they were unable to drive the standard geared corvette.  After receiving driving instructions from the car's owner and still being unable to understand the concept of a clutch, they fled on foot taking only his wallet and other assorted small items.
• Philip Sandey of Huntsville, Alabama apparently needed caffeine before he could think clearly.  His attempted robbery of a Starbucks was thwarted when the clerk offered him a free coffee instead of opening the cash drawer.  He accepted the offer only to be arrested in a nearby parking lot a short time later.

And just in case you thought all of this craziness was confined to American soil:

• Noor Mahmoodr of the United Arab Emirates was arrested for stuffing his suitcases with live leopards, monkeys and panthers in an attempt to smuggle them out of Thailand.  Really?  I can only imagine what the airport screeners must have thought when they saw those images pop up on their X-Ray machines.

• In an attempt to bring fresh air into the country's pollution saturated cities, Chinese millionaire Chen Guangbiao is selling canned fresh air from China's mountain regions to oxygen starved urbanites.  Chen originally gave out free samples to lure people in but the recent exceptionally poor air quality in Beijing is resulting in the actual sale of this strange phenomena. 

• In Oslo, Norway, the hoarding of diapers is resulting in shortages in stores.  Norway is one of the most expensive countries in Europe yet apparently Norwegian diapers cost significantly less than their Eastern European counterparts resulting in foreigners flocking to southern Norway and bringing them back across the border.  I wonder whether the cost of fuel is calculated into this "cost savings."

Seriously, you just can't make these things up.  But maybe you can..............no really, you can't.  Here's to a saner February.