Watercooler Stories

Bloomberg: Subway verdict incomprehensible

NEW YORK, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg labeled a jury's award of $2.3 million to a man who lost his leg under a subway train while drunk "incomprehensible."

Dustin Dibble, 25, won the payout in a suit against New York City Transit, which has vowed to appeal the verdict. Dibble drunkenly fell onto the subway tracks April 25, 2006, and lost his leg beneath a train, the New York Post reported.

"Sometimes, juries do things that you find a little incomprehensible," Bloomberg said.

"I wasn't sitting in the courtroom. I wasn't on the jury. But on the face of it, you'd think there's a personal responsibility here," he said. "And I think a lot of us should be a little more responsible for our own behavior."

Police: Manners led to golf club attack

FALMOUTH, Mass., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Police in Massachusetts said an argument about manners allegedly led to a golf club attack on a man at a gas station.

Investigators said the 50-year-old alleged victim held the door open for Carlos Navarro, 38, at the Hess gas station in Falmouth and sarcastically said "thank you" when Navarro failed to thank him for holding the door, the Cape Cod (Mass.) Times reported.

Navarro told police he felt insulted by the comment and a heated argument ensued between the men. Navarro allegedly retrieved a wooden golf club from his car and struck the 50-year-old in the stomach and legs, causing minor injuries.

Navarro was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He was scheduled to appear in court March 31.

Family moves in cave bought on eBay

FESTUS, Mo., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A Missouri family says the credit crunch has forced them to put up for sale the 17,000-square-foot home they created in a cave.

Curt Sleeper told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he and his family, like so many others, are victims of the credit crunch. He has been unable to obtain mortgage refinancing for the cave.

"We don't want to move," he said. "But we need to protect our equity. We put everything we had into this home."

So the Sleepers have listed the cave on eBay.

The couple, who have two children and are expecting a third, bought the cave, a former mine, five years ago. In the late 1950s, it had been converted to a roller rink and night club called Caveland, where Tina Turner and other major stars played.

The Sleepers lived in tents for several years while they worked on the cave, calling their temporary quarters Tentworld.

The family says the cave in Festus, about 30 miles south of St. Louis, is peaceful, considering that it is only a few hundred feet from major highways and below a subdivision. It is located in a small box canyon with a bog and an assortment of wildlife.

Eateries limiting condiments

CHICAGO, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Customers at certain eateries in the Chicago area will have to request ketchup or mustard specifically to receive the condiments, a restaurant manager says.

Nicole Hughes, the manager of a Chicago-area Chili's restaurant, said to cut down on product costs, her take-out window employees have begun asking customers if they need condiments instead of immediately providing the goods, the Chicago Sun-Times said.

The cost-cutting efforts at the Chili's in Homewood, Ill., will also apply to utensils and bags for take-out boxes.

Hughes told the Sun-Times the changes, which include the removal of cardboard coasters at all tables, should help cut costs.

"In the long run, it'll eliminate us having to increase costs on the menus," she told the Sun-Times.

The newspaper said an area McDonald's restaurant has taken similar steps, limiting customers to three ketchup packets and charging extra for additional Chicken McNuggets sauce packets.