Watercooler Stories

Human statue project includes 'poo' man

LONDON, June 16 (UPI) -- One of the "living statues" kicking off an art exhibit in London's Trafalgar Square is a man who made a costume meant to resemble feces.

Oliver Parsons-Baker, 26, of Birmingham, England, said he designed a "poo costume" for his hour on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square as a means of highlighting the need for clean water, The Sun reported.

Parsons-Barker is one of 2,400 people chosen to play "living statues" for one hour on the plinth as part of "One and Other," an art project designed by Antony Gormley.

The project, in which each living statue is allotted one hour on the plinth, is scheduled to go on for 24 hours a day for 100 days beginning July 6.

Other applicants chosen to occupy time on the plinth include a man who plans to wear a bicycle-powered light-up suit, an 83-year-old who will spend the hour waving a flag and a student using her hour to mark her birthday.

British school's banana ban may end

PLYMOUTH, England, June 16 (UPI) -- Officials in a British town say they are re-examining a school's banana, ban invoked because a staff member has a life-threatening allergy to the fruit.

Vivien Pengelly, leader of Plymouth City Council, called for an investigation after learning that students at Stoke Damerel Primary School have been told since 2007 not to bring bananas to school, the Daily Mail reported.

"This is the first I have heard about this and it does sound a bit over the top to me," Pengelly said. "It's my experience as a headteacher that when there are allergies in a school we encourage children to manage the risk around them. I shall be asking officers to look at this particular case again to see whether anything else might be done."

A spokeswoman for the council said the point will become moot in September, when the staff member -- who was not identified -- plans to leave the school and the ban will be lifted.

"A member of the school community has a severe life-threatening allergy to bananas and on the advice of the council, the school has asked pupils not to bring them in," the spokeswoman said. "These are very unusual circumstances but the school community has been supportive and understanding over the last two years."

Teacher suing govt. over fallen branch

LONDON, June 16 (UPI) -- A teacher alleges in a lawsuit that Britain's Environmental Agency is responsible for a branch falling and hitting her on the head.

Doreen Prior, a teacher living in the town of Lewes, accused the government agency of not properly maintaining the tree from which the branch fell and cut her head two years ago, The Daily Mail reported.

"I'm just so worried this could happen to a child with all the families that come down here. It was right on the path," Prior, whose age was not reported, said of the April 2007 incident.

The $488,500 lawsuit also alleges Prior has been unable to continue teaching as a result of aftereffects of the injury.

"Suffering from extreme tiredness, she is still unable to return to teaching and is under great financial strain as a result," Prior's attorney, Laura Middleton-Guerard, alleged.

A High Court filing by Prior's legal team alleged the Environmental Agency admitted no regular safety checks had been conducted on the tree prior to the 2007 accident.

City to employees: Wear underwear

BROOKSVILLE, Fla., June 16 (UPI) -- The City Council of Brooksville, Fla., has approved a citywide dress code requiring city employees to wear underwear, deodorant and properly-fitted clothes.

The dress and appearance policy, which also requires all tattoos and scars to be covered up during work hours, was approved 4-1, with only Mayor Joe Bernardini voting against the dress code due to concerns about interpretation and enforcement of the new rules, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported.

"They said you had to wear undergarments," Bernardini said, "but who's going to be the judge of that? Sometimes when it comes to certain people going bra-less, it's obvious. But who's staring to see if that person doesn't have underwear on?"

However, officials said the dress code is part of an overhaul of the city's policy toward its employees that was developed with help from city officials, attorneys and other sources. The officials said they want public employees to maintain the city's "public image."

"The policy is there if something becomes an issue or problem," City Manager Jennene Norman-Vacha said. "Then we want to be able to address it. It's just good policy."