Watercooler Stories

British beer drinkers demand full pints

LONDON, April 16 (UPI) -- After doing a three-year survey, the Campaign for Real Ale is calling for the British government to require that a pint glass of beer be completely filled.

The survey showed that 26.6 percent of pints served in local pubs were under-filled by at least 5 percent, Britain's Sky News reported Monday.

CAMRA claims the missing beer costs patrons a total of about $957 million each year and is now calling on the government to impose legislation requiring licensees to serve full pints.

CAMRA did 25 surveys between the 2004 and 2007 of different council areas before releasing their findings.

CAMRA Chief Executive Mike Benner called it "a disgrace" that up to a quarter of all pints served in Britain "are less than 95 percent liquid when the consumer is paying for a full pint every time."

SUV crashes into grocery store in Houston

HOUSTON, April 16 (UPI) -- Twelve people were injured when an SUV crashed through the front door of a grocery store in Houston.

At least one child was injured in the incident, as well as a woman who was eight months pregnant, The Houston Chronicle reported

The driver of the SUV, an unidentified 20-year-old male, was taken into custody, said Houston Police Department spokeswoman Johanna Abad. But she did not give any information about why he was taken in.

"Another passenger of the vehicle fled the scene and remains at large," Abad said.

The other customers in the store were quite shaken up by the Sunday afternoon event.

"It sounded like an explosion. A huge boom," grocery store patron Olga Aguirre said. "We stood there for a minute and then ran to the front of the store to help people."

Estephanie Rodriguez, who was working in the kitchen to the left of the front entrance, said it was "like a movie."

"One minute I was standing there making chicken noodles and the next minute there was a truck in the store, people hurt, blood everywhere," she said.

R2-D2 mailboxes cause wonder in Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 16 (UPI) -- Grand Rapids, Mich., is now the home to two U.S. Postal Service mailboxes painted to look like R2-D2, the little droid from the "Star Wars" films.

The mailboxes were recently installed to create a buzz about the release of 30th anniversary movie stamps on May 25th, the Grand Rapids Press reported Monday.

The R2-D2 mailboxes have also been drawing those who moonlight as characters from the "Star Wars" films.

Tailor Pete Filippidis, 61, from Grand Rapids, said he wasn't sure what to think when he saw a woman dressed like Princess Leia with a light saber posing for pictures by the mailbox.

"I thought it was a game," he said.

As it turns out, she was there meeting up with fellow "Star Wars" enthusiast Carl Nelson.

"We even asked an elderly gentleman if she (Princess Leia) could borrow his mail," said Nelson. He went on to explain that they were trying to re-enact a scene from the first movie at the mailbox.

British railways now weighing passengers

LONDON, April 16 (UPI) -- London train operator Southeastern plans to weigh commuters as they squeeze onto trains in order to see how overcrowded their rail system is.

They are linking the train's suspension to a computer system that will work out the weight of passengers getting on, The Daily Mail reported Monday.

Other train industries are following in a similar suit but are using laser beams to count how many people board each service.

Southeastern reportedly runs two of London's most overcrowded trains, the morning Orpington to Charing Cross and the morning Folkestone Central to Cannon Street, the newspaper said.

Their service specification manager, Brian Rowley, told The Daily News the new computer-counting system is a "real step forward" in the fight to cure the overcrowding issue.

Southern Railways and South West Trains are among those using laser counters on carriage doors.