Watercooler Stories

Singing protesters rile sheriff

TEMPE, Ariz., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Controversial Phoenix-area Sheriff Joe Arpaio stopped talking and left when protesters at Arizona State University began singing a protest song.

The group interrupted a panel discussion Monday in which journalism professors questioned Arpaio, The Arizona Republic reported. Before the event, opponents and supporters of the Maricopa County sheriff demonstrated outside.

During his tenure, Arpaio has become a national figure, known for making jail inmates wear pink underwear and eat a tasteless, although nutritious, loaf as a punishment. More recently, he has become even better known for his hard line on illegal immigrants.

The singing protesters adapted a Freddy Mercury song, "Bohemian Rhapsody," an alternative newspaper, Phoenix New Times, reported.

One verse went: "Is this legitimate? Is this atrocity? Caught up in politics. No sense of reality. Open your eyes. Look down to the south and see ... . The border stops brown folks, they cannot cross the line. But it's easy come, easy go, for the rich, 'n' their cargo. Anyway the migrants flow, doesn't really matter to me ... ."

The event was supposed to last for an hour, but Arpaio took off 15 minutes early.

Receptionist, 87, has no retirement plans

GLENDALE, Wis., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- An 87-year-old Wisconsin woman who celebrated her 51st anniversary Tuesday with a Milwaukee-area shoe importer says she has no plans to retire.

Rose Schulz told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she did not understand why anyone would want to interview her.

"Oh my goodness; I don't know why," she said. "I'm just a plain Jane."

For most of her time at Weyco Group, which employees about 200 people in Wisconsin, and imports Florsheim and other brands of shoes, Schulz has been a receptionist working the front desk.

When the current president of the company, John Florsheim, was born, Schulz had already been with Weyco for five years.

He remembers Schulz giving him candy when he visited the office as a child when his father, Thomas Florsheim, was president.

Schulz is an old-style receptionist wearing a headset and working a switchboard. Callers get her voice live, not voice mail.

While she says she might have quit if her husband, who died 25 years ago, had lived longer, she plans to stay at Weyco for the foreseeable future.

"So often they've said, 'Rose, we want you here as long as you want to

be here.' And that means a lot," she said.

Burmese python captured in California

CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A volunteer for California's Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation said he captured a 5-foot Burmese python near a trail along the northern edge of the lagoon.

Troy Keenan said he was working at the foundation's nature center Sunday in Carlsbad when a pair of hikers came in and reported seeing the huge snake, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Tuesday.

Keenan said he found the snake in a section of the lagoon called Aviara Cove. He said he grabbed the non-venomous snake's tail, put his hat over its head and grasped it by the back of the neck to guide it into a garbage bag.

"It got my adrenaline up, let's put it that way," he said.

Fred Sandquist, director of the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation, said the animal was likely a pet released by its owner when it became too large. He said the snake is being cared for by animal control workers until a new home can be found.

Man gives up attempts to produce milk

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A Swedish man who spent months attempting to pump milk from his breasts has given up on the failed attempt, his observers said.

Magnus Talib, a member of the editorial team for TV show Aschberg, which has been observing the progress of "Milkman" Ragnar Bengtsson, 26, said the young father's daily three-hour breast pumping failed to produce any milk, The Local reported Tuesday.

"All he got was sore breasts," Talib said of Bengtsson's attempt, which began in September.

However, Talib said Bengtsson has another perk coming from his project -- he is flying to the United States this week to film an appearance on "The Tyra Banks Show."