Watercooler Stories

Parents live in tent to escape kids' mess

DELTONA, Fla., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A Deltona, Fla., couple has decided to live in a tent rather than continually plead with their 17- and 12-year-old children to clean up after themselves.

Cat and Harlen Bernard say they hope they can embarrass their children into mending their ways.

"They are 17 and 12 (years old), able bodied and nothing is more frustrating to me than when they expect everything to be done for them," Harlen Bernard told WKMG-TV, Orlando.

The parents said they'll continue their sit-in until their children help out and learn to appreciate their parents.

After his first night in the yard, Harlan Barnard said he awakened feeling stiff, but liberated.

Their children were confused on the first day when they came home from school. Their son, Ben Barnard, a high school senior, said the strike is extremely inconvenient. "Every time the phone rings, we have to run outside to give it to them," he said.

But some progress might be occurring. Cat Barnard said her daughter washed her own clothes for the first time Tuesday.

Broken leg excuse works to escape formal

NEW YORK, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The broken leg excuse allowed Joe Vitelli of Westborough, Mass., to watch the Yanks-Red Sox game last year -- but he might have lost his girlfriend.

Vitelli used that excuse to beg off from attending his girlfriend's sorority formal so he could attend Game 7 of his home team's baseball contest.

That excuse was adjudged the best for winning the "How Low Did You Go to Catch the Big Game?" contest in New York, sponsored by Microsoft Smart Watches.

Not only that, Vitelli kept up the charade for six weeks, wearing a fake cast, attending fake doctor's appointments and tooling around in a wheelchair, the New York Post reported.

Eventually, he was found out and his cover was blown.

The contest was judged by a celebrity panel including "Best Damn Sports Show" co-host Tom Arnold and Giants player Michael Strahan.

Vitelli won a five-night February trip to Hawaii to party with NFL Pro Bowlers.

Money is biggest U.S. holiday stressor

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A survey by the American Psychological Association has determined the greatest holiday season stressor in the United States is money, or the lack of it.

The survey found 61 percent of citizens listed lack of money as the top cause of holiday stress followed by the pressures of gift giving, lack of time, and credit card debt. Results also show that younger consumers are more worried about lack of money and gift giving compared to people over the age of 35.

While 20 percent said they were concerned the stress could affect their physical health, 36 percent said they either eat or drink alcohol to cope with holiday stress.

"People tend to reduce stress in ways they have learned over the course of time because they turn to what they know," said Dr. Russ Newman, APA executive director for professional practice. "Ironically, they may take comfort from eating or drinking because it's familiar, even though it's not good for their health."

Tussauds waxes set in celeb nativity scene

LONDON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Church officials have decried London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum for using Victoria and David Beckham doubles as Mary and Joseph in a nativity scene.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, U.S. President George Bush and Prince Philip make up the three wise men in the annual display. Actors Hugh Grant, Samuel L. Jackson and comedian Graham Norton are portrayed as shepherds, while Australian singer Kylie Minogue is the angel.

A Vatican spokesman told The Times of London the use of celebrities was "in very poor taste," and Rev. Jonathan Jennings, a spokesman for the Archbishop of Canterbury, echoed the sentiment.

"There is a tradition in which each generation tries to re-enact the nativity, but oh deary me," Jennings told the BBC.