Watercooler Stories

Insulting email mistakenly sent to couple

STOKE PAGES, England, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- A British woman said she was "horrified" to receive an email saying she and her fiance were not the "type of people" to have their wedding at a hotel.

Pauline Bailey, 27, said she and fiance Paul Carty, 51, inquired about holding their wedding at the Stoke Park Hotel in Stoke Poges, England, and she later received an email from Michele Connelly, the hotel's wedding coordinator, that was apparently intended for sales manager Carlo Zoccali, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

"I need your advice on this wedding," the email read. "I know this probably doesn't sound very nice, but I am trying to put this wedding off as I don't think they are the type of people that we would want to have at Stoke Park."

Bailey said she was shocked when she read the email.

"I was horrified," Bailey said. "Effectively she was asking her boss how she could get rid of us? The suggestion was that we were undesirables, which we definitely are not. We're a respectable, middle-class, hard-working, well-educated couple, who both speak well and were certainly not dragged-up, so to speak."

Bailey said she feels she and Carty were discriminated against due to their large age difference.

A representative for the hotel apologized for the incident and said the employee would be "dealt with internally."

"At Stoke Park, we welcome all who wish to have their wedding with us," the representative said in an email to Bailey. "We pride ourselves on the highest quality of service and hospitality and if you would still consider us as a venue for your special day, I would be delighted to meet with you to discuss this further."

Vandal makes anti-Obama banners pro-Obama

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The coordinator of an anti-Obama office in Pittsburgh said a vandal was caught on camera using spray paint to alter window banners.

Josh Wander, coordinator of the 2-week-old center, which is sponsored by the conservative non-profit advocacy group American Majority, said security cameras recorded a man walking up to the center's storefront and using spray paint to change messages opposing President Barack Obama into messages supporting the president, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Monday.

One message was changed from "Support Israel? Fire Obama" to "Support Israel? Hire Obama" while the other responded to a banner reading "Obama, Oy Vey !!, Had Enough?" with "Never, Love Him."

Wander said the video has been turned over to police for investigation.

School orders boy to cut 'charity' hair

CANTON, Ohio, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- An Ohio high school student who is growing his hair out to donate to a wig-making charity said he will not obey the school board's orders to get a haircut.

Zachery Aufderheide, a senior at Canton South High School, said his hair needs to grow another half-inch before it can be donated to Locks of Love, which uses donated hair to create wigs for children suffering from hair loss, WKYC-TV, Cleveland, reported Monday.

"If I could just give the chance for one kid to have a normal life, then I'm just going to go for it," Aufderheide said.

The student said administrators told him about three weeks into the school year the length of his hair violates the school's dress code. Zachery attended a school board meeting for Canton Local Schools in September. He said t he board decided to uphold the dress code and told him he would have to cut his hair or face disciplinary action.

The student's mother said she is standing behind her son, who has a 3.5 grade-point average.

"It does hurt because he believes in this. He's not hurting anybody. He's trying to help somebody," she said.

WKYC-TV said school officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ohio rejects 'H8HUNTERS' plate

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- An Ohio woman said she understands why the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles refused to allow her license plate to read "H8HUNTERS."

Lucy McKernan, who describes herself as an animal rights activist, said she applied for the license plate at her local BMV office in Independence as a means of discouraging hunting in the state, but she said she understands why it was rejected by officials, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Monday.

"Hate is incendiary and I recognize that," she said. "It was a little over the top."

McKernan said she hopes officials in the "same state government that issues nearly a half-million hunting licenses annually" will approve her second application, for a plate reading "HUNTNOT."

Lindsay Bohrer of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles said the Special Plates Review Committee meets daily to look over requested number and letter combinations for license plates.

"We primarily use the Internet, which gives us access to various languages websites including sites for urban slang," she said. "We err on the side of balance between freedom of speech and limiting profanity, offensiveness or phrases that could incite lawless behavior."