Watercooler Stories

Floor pooper sentenced to jail

FINSPANG, Sweden, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A Swedish man who moved his bowels on the floor of a store that refused him bathroom access was sentenced to eight months in prison.

Prosecutors said the 45-year-old man, whose name was not released, defecated on the floor of the shop in Finspang last November after a 21-year-old cashier told him customers were not allowed to use the facility's restroom due to health regulations, The Local reported Tuesday.

The man, who left his feces and dirty underwear behind on the floor of the store, was convicted of assault and molestation in addition to interference in a judicial matter for twice threatening the cashier on separate occasions.

The suspect was sentenced to eight months in prison plus an additional two months because he was on parole for a previous conviction at the time of the incident. He was also ordered to pay damages to the store.

Restaurant nixes African lion tacos

TUCSON, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- The owner of an Arizona restaurant said he canceled plans to serve tacos with African lion meat after receiving "many threats."

Bryan Mazon, owner of Boca Tacos and Tequila in Tucson, said he canceled the Feb. 16 African lion taco night because he and his employees received "many threats on the safety of our restaurant, our families, our customers and our vendors," the (Tucson) Arizona Daily Star reported Tuesday.

"While Boca will always take the utmost pride in offering creative and unique menu items ... we will not do so at the risk of safety for their families, customers, vendors, supporters, and friends," Mazon said.

Mazon said he received between 20 and 25 "direct threats" and "probably hundreds" of indirect threats. He said police are investigating.

The owner said it was the first time he had received threats as a result of exotic taco Wednesdays, which previously featured frog legs, alligator meat and rattlesnake.

Rival woos man fired for Packers tie

OAK LAWN, Ill., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A Chicago-area car dealer says he wants to hire a salesman fired by a rival for refusing to remove his Green Bay Packers necktie after the Bears' playoff loss.

Jerry Roberts, general manager of Webb Chevrolet in Oak Lawn, said he fired John Stone Monday after the salesman was given five chances to change out of his Packers tie, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday. In the aftermath of media coverage of Stone's sacking, Guy Cesario of Chevrolet of Homewood told the newspaper he wants to hire Stone -- because his dealership has been getting calls "from as far away as San Diego, saying they'll buy from him and only him."

Roberts defended his decision to fire Stone, saying the tie was "salting the wounds" from the Bears' 21-14 playoff loss Sunday to the arch-rival Packers.

"We spend $20,000 a month on advertising with the Bears on WBBM during the season, and we have Bears players including Corey Wootten driving loaner vehicles, and here was a salesman openly undoing that work," Roberts said.

Stone, a father of two who worked for Webb Chevrolet for a month and a half, said he was outraged to be fired over a tie.

"I was just showing my love for my team and it was a nice, smart tie that matched my clothes -- none of the customers minded: they had a sense of humor about it," he said.

He told the newspaper he hadn't decided yet whether to accept the job offer from Cesario.

Cesario said salesmen at his dealership routinely sport colors of out-of-town teams.

Edmonton cancels $13M in speeding tickets

EDMONTON, Alberta, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- The city of Edmonton, Alberta, is writing off nearly $13 million worth of speeding tickets because the reliability of cameras came into question.

Crown Prosecutor Steven Bilodeau said he petitioned the provincial justice ministry to nullify the tickets as people were receiving tickets for impossible infractions, the Edmonton Journal reported.

In one case on Jan. 12, a camera snapshot alleged a driver was traveling at 89 mph on a city street, but the video showed all the other vehicles around it moving at the same speed, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Bilodeau said all 141,729 tickets issued by the automated system between November 2009 and Jan. 14 will be overturned and refunds will be mailed to those who already paid fines.

"It just has to be done," he said. "This is about public confidence."

A spokesman for American Traffic Solutions, which supplies the system to the city, said the company was working with the city to rectify the process to ensure the cameras were "properly maintained and calibrated," the Journal said.