Watercooler Stories

Belarus bars public breathing exercise

BARANOVICHI, Belarus, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Belarussian officials prohibited a local businessman from holding a breathing exercise in a central square, saying it would violate laws on public rallies.

Nikolai Chernous asked City Hall to permit him to hold a 2-hour breathing exercise near the Lenin memorial in downtown Baranovichi, The Moscow Times reported Wednesday.

Baranovichi officials denied the request, contending the breathing exercises would violate several clauses of the law on rallies.

In the past, Chernous tried to hold a bike rally and a marathon walk "against bureaucracy," however, both were also banned.

To the dismay of local and international rights groups and activists, Belarus overhauled its legislation on public rallies and now prohibits all kinds of public events, including picket lines and flash mobs, the newspaper said.

Law enforcement said the law is designed to boost public safety, but critics say it is an attempt to suppress public criticism of President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 2004.

After Lukashenko's victory in last December's presidential election, which many observers said was rigged and undemocratic, many rallies were organized online and made to look like non-political flash mobs, but were nonetheless broken up by police.

Bronx student revamps subway poem

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A New York man operating in the dark of night swapped out an old poem with a pessimistic theme in the Times Square subway station for one with a positive tone.

The gloomy poem loomed over transit users for 20 years, the New York Daily News reported.

The original eight-line poem, called "The Commuter's Lament," reads: "Overslept, so tired, if late, get fired. Why bother? Why the pain? Just go home, do it again."

"Every time I passed it, I thought, 'Wow, that's a really depressing poem to have in the heart of New York City," said Josh Botwinick, 20, of Riverdale, who papered over the sign Saturday night with his girlfriend Margot Reinstein, 20, of Teaneck, N.J.

"I took the same poem and just made it more optimistic," he said.

Botwinick changed "Overslept" into "Overexcited," and "So Tired" into "Energized."

"I was nervous someone would stop us," Botwinick said, "but it was worth it to make New York City a little bit of a happier place."

Marsha Stern-Colp, the widow of the original artist, Norman Colp, complained of the revamping.

"Why be optimistic in these times?" asked Stern-Colp, 66. "Be realistic -- life sucks. You get through it the best you can.

"His empathy for the overtired, overworked populace trudging to get to work was what it was all about," she said of her husband, who died in 2007.

"He had seen me go through all kinds of hell," she added. "I was late. I had a difficult supervisor. I couldn't get my wonderful bed out of my mind. It clicked with him."

Some passersby said they like the revision.

"Obviously somebody has a good outlook on life," said Bashid McLean, 22, of Brooklyn. "They're trying to lift people's spirits."

NYC puts up traffic signs featuring haikus

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- In an attempt to curb pedestrian traffic fatalities, New York City has posted signs with safety messages written in haiku form.

"The idea is to come up with some way to surprise people on the streets of New York," Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said.

The New York City Transportation Department commissioned East Village artist John Morse to create artwork for 216 signs that feature the 17-syllable poems, the New York Post reported Sunday.

Morse said his work is designed to tell people to "think about the fragility of your body."

"You're just a human. You're nothing against these cars," Morse said. "Poetry underscores the harshness of this reality. That's why it has this power."

"Cyclist writes screenplay/Plot features bike lane drama/How pedestrian," reads one of the signs about the dangers of drivers veering into bike lanes.

The $25,000 project, dubbed "Curbside Haiku," "makes you think, definitely," said Silver Matos, a construction worker.

But not all New Yorkers think the signs will be effective.

"Maybe if [the sign] was a little bigger, it'd draw more attention," said passerby Queenie Banks, 36.

"It's good, but I don't think people will notice," agreed Latasha White.

"I can think of better ways to spend $25,000 of the state's money -- it's a waste," complained City Councilman Eric Ulrich, R-Queens.

Replicas of the signs will be available for purchase online, with proceeds going to the Safe Streets Funds, a public-private partnership dedicated to traffic-safety awareness.

The city's use of verse for traffic safety isn't a first. Through much of the first half of the 20th century, the Burma Shave company posted safety messages along the nation's roadways while advertising its products. It even presaged today's designated driver campaign: "It's best for / One who hits / The bottle / To let another / Use the throttle / Burma-Shave."

Father leaves baby in shopping cart

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Police say a Kentucky father accidentally left his 6-month-old baby in a shopping cart after a trip to the supermarket.

The incident happened about 4 p.m. Tuesday at a Kroger grocery store in Jessamine County, WLEX-TV, Lexington, reported.

The baby was left in the shopping cart for about 3 minutes before a couple spotted the baby and called police.

"This was an unfortunate accident, but the citizens of this community did a great thing by picking up the child and immediately calling 911," Kevin Grimes, a Nicholasville Police Department officer, said.

Grimes said the father, Steven Wilcox, drove about 3 blocks before realizing his mistake. He quickly turned around, flagging down a police officer on his way back to the store.

"He was totally distraught about it. He realized he had made a huge mistake, as well as we realized in this situation that people do make mistakes. It was an accident and fortunately it turned out very good this time and in this situation," Grimes said.

"As a parent, you have to be aware and you always have to be with them," Janet Hodges, a mother of four and day care worker, said.

Police said they would not press charges against the Jessamine County dad, but the case was turned over to Social Services.