Watercooler Stories

Yanks prepare to tease over A-Rod mag pic

NEW YORK, March 18 (UPI) -- A Details Magazine photo that seems to depict New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez preparing to kiss himself in a mirror has his teammates poised for teasing.

The picture, which shows the third baseman nearly lip-to-lip with his reflection in a full-length mirror, had some of his teammates shaking their heads in disbelief while more mischievous colleagues said the photo leaves A-Rod ripe for razzing, Newsday reported Wednesday.

"Don't worry, we'll be sure to make fun of him for it," one Yankee said.

A common sentiment among Rodriguez's colleagues was that they would never be caught posing for a similar picture.

"What was he thinking?" another teammate wondered aloud.

Restaurant workers sue over tips

NEW YORK, March 18 (UPI) -- More than 30 employees of New York's 21 Club claim in a lawsuit that the restaurant has been stealing a portion of their tips for years.

The class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday in United States District Court claims the popular restaurant charges a 21.75 percent gratuity for private dining and banquet services, but pays only 18 percent of the bill collected to staff members, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

D. Maimon Kirschenbaum, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the amount of money withheld by the restaurant during the past six years -- as far back as the suit can go under the statute of limitations -- could exceed $1 million.

A restaurant spokesman said bosses have not yet received the suit and had no comment on the proceedings.

"It's one of the best restaurants in New York, and we don't deny that we love the place, but they are stealing our money," said one of the waiters who signed on to the suit. "And when they say they pay us 18 percent, we have no way of even checking on that. We could be getting less."

Walking catfish washes up in London

LONDON, March 18 (UPI) -- Experts said a walking catfish, a species rarely seen outside of Southeast Asia, was found washed up on the shore of the Thames Estuary in London.

Birol Koca said he discovered the fish while he was fishing along the Woolwich Reach in East London, the East London Advertiser reported Wednesday.

"I instantly recognized it as a catfish," he said. "I knew these fish should not be in our local rivers, so I called the Environment Agency's 24-hour Incident Line."

Environment Agency fisheries officer Emma Barton said her agency's fisheries team identified the find as a walking catfish, a species that would have trouble surviving the cold British winter.

"This species which is native to Southeast Asia has the ability to walk over land using its stiff pectoral 'spines' and a back-and-forth movement of the body," she told the Advertiser. "It also has an air-breathing organ which functions much like a lung when it's on land."

Experts said the fish was likely released illegally from an aquarium after it became too large for its home. They said the species can pose a threat to the local ecosystem by competing for food with native fish and spreading foreign diseases and parasites, the newspaper said.

School cancels prom for 13-year-olds

AMPTHILL, England, March 18 (UPI) -- A British school has canceled its prom for 13-year-old students after concerns that parents were using the event to show off their wealth.

Administrators at the Alameda Middle School in Ampthill, England, said the end-of-summer term prom, which has been a tradition at the school for the past seven years, was canceled after parents and teachers raised concerns that some parents were using the event as a competition to show off their economic prosperity, The Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

"When the prom first started there were probably one or two stretch limos but there have been more turning up every year," said David Harvey, head of Year 8 at the school. "Parents were trying to outdo each other and we felt that things were getting out of proportion. Last year we had one child arrive in a monster tractor which must have cost around £30,000 ($42,000) and it could hardly get up the drive."

"Also with things a bit tight money-wise we thought it would be a good idea all round to get rid of the prom," he said.

Head teacher Sue Lourensz said the Year 8 students will still be treated to a party at the end of the summer term, but it will be a far less formal affair.

"The students are voting online for what they want. At the moment, it's a close race between a Masked Ball and a Neon Rave," she said.