The world is a strange place and the most important thing that makes it so, is its people. As the new year of 2019 begins, many people are prompted to take a closer look at the events and news, that shaped the year gone by. Though it is the political news, business takeovers and celebrity gossips which most often hogs the limelight, but sometimes astounding and awkward events also comes into limelight, forcing people to contemplate on the absurdity of the human nature and unpredictability of life.
The events described below seems to be impossible to believe, but have really happened in the year that ended recently. A reference list in chronological order at the end of the article, is attached for all those, who may find the article difficult to believe. The news & events described below are from all across the world. The names of the people have been avoided to safeguard the dignity of the people involved (but details are available in the articles in the reference list). The events described below shows just how true to the spirit of globalisation, the human qualities of – ignorance, arrogance, stupidity and fortune, transcends all geographical barriers.
The news from June 2018, showed a video of a woman, drinking urine of her pet dog. Her reason – it helped her get rid of a bad case of acne. Although hard to believe, but the video clearly showed the 21-year-old American woman collecting urine of her dog in a plastic cup & then drinking it, for all to see (in the video). The woman mentioned that, she believed that dog’s urine has – Vitamin A & E and is also rich in calcium. She said that her acne was improved and depression vanished, after this “urine treatment”. She says that the same can also be used for cancer treatment.
Here it would be important to mention that though “Urine therapy” was practised in many ancient civilizations, but it can be very dangerous. The toxic wastes contained in the urine, can be harmful for the body, if ingested. Experts have deemed urine therapy dangerous, and such misadventures should be avoided at all costs.
The state of Bihar in India, has had strict prohibition enforced, from quite some time now. Any sale or consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited and all illegal alcohol containing beverages, are seized by the government and stored in the government storehouse. However, rats have been accused of drinking this alcohol from the storage facilities on a regular basis. News was reported by different media houses, in October 2018, how rats had made holes on top of beer cans and before emptying them.
This is not the first-time similar incidences has been reported. The rat-infested storage godowns had similar problems previously too. In May 2017, several hundred thousand litres of alcohol were drunk by the rats in Patna, capital of the state of Bihar.
This really weird news came from Egypt in July 2018, where the donkeys were allegedly painted to look like Zebras. Cairo’s International Garden Municipal park, got all the wrong kind of attention, when an Egyptian student, posted in social media, the deceptively painted animals. Although animal experts have reportedly authenticated the observation, but the director of the zoo, maintained that the allegations were totally baseless and the Zebras displayed, were indeed originally so. Unfortunately, similar incidents have reportedly happened many times in the past also, across the globe.
In June 2018, cops responded to a rather uncommon kind of distress call from a child in Halifax, provincial capital of Nova Scotia, Canada. A 12-year-old boy made not one but two, emergency calls to 911, as he was being forced to eat salad by his parents. It seems that the boy really hated eating vegetables and would go to any length to avoid them. The Canadian police however on reaching the boy’s house, came to know about the whole incident. Displaying the niceness, for which Canada is famous the world over, they were quite non-judgemental on the quality of food being served & instead educated the boy, about how to use the emergency services more responsibly.
This news from June 2018, brought the wrong kind of limelight on a controversial Korean leader, who is already very famous for all the wrong reasons. When the supreme leader arrived in Singapore for an important meeting, he didn’t forget to bring his toilet(s) with all other accessories. The reason for carrying his toilets, along with him in his numerous trips, is to deny his opponent country’s sewer divers to get details about the bowel habits of the famed leader. It seems that this action is guided by concerns regarding maintaining secrecy about the leader’s health status.
The incident from September 2018, happened in a flight from New Delhi to Patna (capital of state of Bihar) India, when a passenger mistakenly tried to open the emergency gates of the aircraft, as he wanted to go to the toilet and believed that the emergency door was the lavatory door. The young passenger, struggled with some other concerned passengers, who tried to stop him from opening the door (which certainly would have led all the passengers to heaven, had it opened). The passenger was apprehended by the authorities and handed over to the cops when the flight landed. Apparently, the young man was flying for the first time and the urge to respond to nature’s call, made him try to open the emergency gate, as he believed that he had an emergency.
Everybody loves to eat chocolate, and plenty of it. But what happens when huge amount of it flows through the streets? That would be a dream come true for most of us. However, logically chances of that happening is next to impossible. But this miracle came true in Dec 2018, when liquid chocolate found its way into a street in town of Werl, in Germany. The sweet accident occurred, when the storage tank in the local chocolate factory overflowed and chocolate literally flooded into the adjacent street.
Unfortunately, chocolate on the street - weighing approximately a ton, was not a sight most people fancied, as it was frozen on cold winter street and created traffic hazard. Finally, the local fire brigade authorities had to be called in, to sort out the problem. After using some muscle powers & shovels, the street was again made safe for use. Breaking the chocolate cake on the street would have been certainly a heart-breaking sight.
The fact that the barter system does not work in the modern world is something many people, find difficult to accept; specially when their request is to barter marijuana for food, doesn’t work out. The 23-year-old man in Florida, USA learnt the lesson a hard way, when he landed in jail for his misadventure in December 2018.
The young man tried to exchange a bag of marijuana for food, at a drive through window of a famous fast food chain outlet. On being refused, the man drove off only to reappear sometime later. By this time, the police authorities had already been informed & they promptly arrested the guy, for possession of Marijuana and driving under the influence.
The popular show – “Who wants to be millionaire”, has spread across the globe, with different local versions, which have become very popular, because of highlighting the intelligence, fast thinking and vast knowledge of its participants. However, sometimes the serious themed show does create rather amusing situations.
A Turkish version of the above-mentioned show, which was showcased around August 2018, had a rather difficult question, for a 26-year-old beautiful lady; which was to name the country, where the Great Wall of China is situated. The options were – China, South Korea, Japan and India. The candidate chose to use her lifeline options. The first choice was to take audience’s opinion, when only 51% of studio audience, opted for China. Confused, the young lady called a friend on phone for help. This time the correct answer was received, which saved the contestant for the moment. Unfortunately, she was eliminated in the very next question, for giving a wrong answer.
Whenever people go for dinner in a decent upmarket restaurant, it makes their purse much lighter. But can a person have a fine meal and still unexpectedly get a small fortune at the same time? It seems that sometimes (just sometimes), luck smiles on you when you are eating.
A man from New Jersey, was having a good meal in a Manhattan restaurant in December 2018, when an oyster pan roast, brought him an unexpected stroke of luck. While eating the dish, he felt something odd. On closer inspection (& confirmation by the staff of the restaurant), he learnt that he had stumbled upon a pearl, likely worth thousands of dollars.
December 2018, also saw the end of marriage of a 45-year-old woman with her husband - a pirate, who had died 300 years ago. The Irish woman is a Jack Sparrow (of Pirates of the Caribbean fame) impersonator, who married the ghost of a Haitian pirate in January 2018, after 4 years of dating. The 45-year-old Irish woman had a formal wedding in a boat in international waters, to her ghost boyfriend from 18th century. Here it would be important to mention that marriage to dead people is legal in certain countries.
The woman had met her ghost partner named - Jack, through a medium, who dabbled in spirits. The woman believed that she had met her soulmate, with whom she could finally be happy. Apparently, her previous marriage with a living man (with whom she had 5 children) was not satisfactory, and this time she believed she had found her true love, in the ghost of Jack – a Haitian pirate, who was executed 300 years ago.
The dream marriage in international waters had the bride in a ceremonial white dress and the groom was represented by a skull and crossbones flag. The marriage was conducted by a Shaman priest, and a medium (a person who can talk to spirits), helped with the exchange of vows, on the groom’s behalf. Finally, the wedding ring was placed on a candle, as a substitute for the groom’s hand, which unfortunately was not present. The marriage was followed by a honeymoon in Ireland. Unfortunately, most good things do not last for long and after 11 months, on December 2018 the Irish woman in question, finally opted for a divorce, the reasons for which was not given.
As the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction. Although, most of the events described above would appear to be of little practical importance, but they certainly merited discussion. Many times, in life, we do things, that are really stupid, or are astonished by good fortune or serious bad luck, that encircles our life or those of our near and dear ones. These stories are just a small attempt to highlight the factor that, human trials and tribulations are not affected by national boundaries, or are bound by reasons of logic. The unpredictable nature of fate, predictably affects everyone in this world.
(Disclaimer - This article in no way disrespects any person or any nationality. All the incidents mentioned above are true, but identity of the people in the stories have not been mentioned to safeguard their privacy, which all humans are entitled to. Those who are interested to find more details, can go through the reference list given below, which are arranged chronologically.)
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