Watercooler Stories

BO keeps elbows down on coasters

CHERTSEY, England, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Bosses at a British amusement park said they banned patrons from putting their arms in the air during roller coaster rides due to concerns about body odor.

Mike Vallis, director of Thorpe Park in Chertsey, England, said guests who do not keep their elbows at their sides will be kicked off rides, and repeat offenders will be escorted out of the park, The Sun reported.

"We've found that when the temperature tops 25C (77 degrees Fahrenheit) the level of unpleasant smells can become unacceptable, and we do receive complaints," Vallis said. "Our rides are really scary, and people tend to sweat more than normal due to the fear and anticipation they experience while queuing up so it can get really pongy.

"Therefore, we felt a ban in temperatures of 25C-plus would be the best way to ensure our guests have the most enjoyable experience and aren't exposed to any unsavory armpits," he said.

College releases freshman Mindset List

BELOIT, Wis., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin college has released its annual Mindset List detailing the cultural touchstones important to this year's freshman class.

The Beloit College Mindset List, compiled by retired college spokesman Ron Nief and humanities Professor Tom McBride, says 18-year-olds entering college this semester have grown up in a United States with Iraq as a repeated enemy, mega-churches located across the country and Cartoon Network as a cable TV viewing choice, USA Today reported.

For the Class of 2013, tattoos have always been chic, rap music mainstream and bungee jumping socially acceptable. Oh yeah, and there's always been blue Jell-O.

Nief said incoming freshmen may not see Washington's Watergate Hotel as the site of an infamous break-in that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, but rather as a place "where Monica Lewinsky had an apartment."

The retired spokesman said the list began in 1998 as a counterpoint to "rather mean-spirited" lists coming out each year that listed facts and figures unknown to incoming college students.

"We finally decided it was kind of Boomer arrogance," he said.

House hit by cars twice in two nights

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A car smashed into an Austin, Texas, family's home for the second time in two nights, authorities say.

Luna Trevino, 9, narrowly escaped injury in the first incident at 3 a.m. Saturday when a car barreled into her bedroom, backed up and then sped off, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

But barely after the family had boarded up the hole and moved to a relative's house to spend the next night, another car smashed into the same bedroom when no one was home, breaking down the newly installed boards, the newspaper said.

"After the first accident, Luna was OK," the girl's father, Joey Trevino, said. "But when she saw the second hole, she freaked out. She doesn't want to live here anymore."

Trevino's wife, Sara Kerver, said the couple lived in the house at the dead-end of north Austin's Northcrest Boulevard for seven years without cars jumping the curb. She told the American-Statesman the family used to park its pick-up truck in front of the girl's bedroom to act as a barrier, but complaints from the neighborhood association forced them to remove it.

Beer billboard mocks Toronto

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The Coors Light marketing department says it's sorry if British Columbia billboards mocking Toronto are offensive to Canada's largest city and beer market.

The billboard features a picture of a can of the beer with the slogan "Colder Than Most People From Toronto," the Toronto Star's western bureau reported from Vancouver.

The billboard caught the eye of tourist Kathryn Morton, who was born in British Columbia but now lives northwest of Toronto. She said her 16-year-old son spotted the billboard and found it offensive.

"He realized the political incorrectness of it," she said. "What bothered us was we saw the Olympic logo on the billboard. This isn't a great way to bring in people to the province."

Culturally throughout Canada, Toronto is dubbed "the city everyone loves to hate," but Morton said such a public display was unsettling.

"That's pretty insulting to such a large group of people," she said. "We hear stuff about Toronto people all the time but we couldn't believe anyone would put it on a billboard."

Coors Light brand marketing manager Adam Moffat told the Star there have been previous complaints.

"What we've told consumers is we're sorry and apologetic if we've offended anyone," he said.