Watercooler Stories

'Mr. Apology' seeks anonymous confessions

NEW YORK, March 17 (UPI) -- A Brooklyn man said he is calling himself "Mr. Apology" and encouraging New Yorkers to call his hot line and apologize for their wrongdoings.

"I think forgiveness is a very powerful thing -- and not everyone has an outlet for that," the 37-year-old organizer, who requested anonymity, told the New York Post. "Some people can't talk to family, don't have religion or maybe they don't even know how to forgive themselves."

The organizer has publicized his hotline on signs, which say: "Criminals Blue collar, white collar, you have wronged people. It is to people that you must apologize, not to the state, not to God. Get your misdeeds off your chest! Call APOLOGY *67 (347) 201-2446."

Callers are asked not to identify themselves, as the anonymous organizer is planning on playing the apologies to the public, the Post said.

The project follows the work of the original Mr. Apology, Allan Bridge, who set up a confessional hot line called the Apology Line in 1980.

Woman discovers scorpion in groceries

DUMFRIES, Scotland, March 17 (UPI) -- A Scottish woman said she was unpacking groceries when she discovered a live scorpion had made its way into her bag.

Amanda Johnstone, of Dumfries said the scorpion was about 3 inches long, The Sun reported Sunday.

The scorpion got knocked to the floor and started making its way toward Johnstone's 6-year-old son Ross and her elderly mother Gloria, who leaped out of its way.

"Ross started shouting, 'Scorpion, scorpion!' I saw it and I was like, 'Oh my god, this is a bloody scorpion'. Mum's just had her knees replaced. I've never seen her move so fast -- the op definitely worked. I was absolutely terrified. I thought they were all poisonous," Johnstone said.

In the end, Johnstone's nephew Aaron, 29, captured the creature in a pint glass and an animal rescue officer came and picked it up.

The creature was later identified as a North American desert hairy scorpion, which is non-lethal.

"Desert hairy scorpions aren't deadly but if bitten the pain can vary from that of a bee-sting to intense inflammation and sickness," said animal rescue officer Tricia Smith.

Bus overcome by roaches, forced to stop

NEW YORK, March 16 (UPI) -- Passengers on a Greyhound bus traveling to New York said they were disgusted when the bus became overrun with cockroaches.

The bus was traveling from Atlantic City, N.J., to New York Friday morning when passengers began to notice the bugs crawling about, CNN reported.

Passenger Dawn Alexander told ABC News the roaches were first spotted in the front of the bus.

"Then after a while, the panic got toward the back because we all started looking around and saw roaches crawling everywhere," she said.

"We thought it was one (roach). It turned out to be a whole house full of roaches," said another passenger.

"I sat down -- roaches started crawling up on our clothes, falling down from the ceiling. Everything," said another.

Greyhound spokeswoman Maureen Richmond told CNN the bus driver acted quickly when passengers alerted him to the problem.

"He immediately pulled the bus over and radioed our dispatch office for assistance," she said. "A second bus was immediately sent to continue the trip into New York. We have spoken with each passenger and provided full refunds."

Greyhound said it was investigating how the roaches got onto the bus.

One more race to go for 'Marathon Goddess'

LOS ANGELES, March 16 (UPI) -- The Internet's so-called Marathon Goddess says she expects her late father will cross her mind when she crosses the finish line at the Los Angeles Marathon.

Julie Weiss will complete her 52nd marathon in as many weeks when she finishes Sunday's run through LA, a quest she undertook to raise public awareness of pancreatic cancer, which killed her dad in 2010.

"It's going to be overwhelming, I know there's going to be exhaustion and tears, a lot of tears," Weiss, whose website is called Marathon Goddess, told the Los Angeles Times. "I know I am going to be thinking of my father. He is going to be with me every step of the way; he is going to be the wind at my back."

Weiss, 42, of Santa Monica, counted on her father, Maurice, to help her train for the marathon as she used long-distance running to overcome depression and lose weight.

He died one week before she finally qualified for the Boston Marathon.

Weiss has since been running to raise money for the Pancreatic Cancer Network and has competed in weekend races across the United States and in Canada and Rome -- all while holding a full-time job.