By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Too picky
Already employers are banned from discriminating on the basis of race, age, or sexual orientation. But what about work ethic? Jobcentre Plus, a government employment agency in the United Kingdom, rejected a job listing from Nicole Mamo when her advertisement mentioned she was looking to hire only “reliable” and “hard-working” employees. Mamo was trying to hire employees for cleaning positions, and the agency said her ad was discriminatory against people who are unreliable. “In my 15 years in recruitment,” Mamo told the Daily Mail, “I haven’t heard anything so ridiculous.”
Paying in pain
Along with medical devices, Austrian ambulances are also now equipped with credit card scanners. And the emergency workers want you to pay prior to treatment. Austrian officials told the AFP news services that the policy is a response to foreign tourists who use emergency services and then leave the country without paying their bills. A German tourist injured while skiing in the Alps learned of the policy firsthand. “During the ambulance ride, the crew started pushing buttons and then they said: ‘Sorry, but we have to charge you 230 euros now,'” he reportedly told a local radio program. “They were obviously very embarrassed.”
Pricey fish
What’s the best tuna? The owners of a Tokyo sushi market and a Hong Kong restaurant must have thought it was a 512-pound bluefin tuna at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo. Together they bought and shared the giant fish last month, paying $177,000 for the honor. Their catch, however, was not the highest-priced tuna ever sold at the Tsukiji market: In 2001 a 440-pound tuna sold for $220,000.
Penny protest
The long, long wait is over for Janet Maitland. The Livermore, Calif., woman has finally resolved a decade-long, 14-cent dispute with her phone company. Over 10 years ago, Maitland put $5 on a TTI phone card she purchased through Costco. When she stopped using the account, she noticed she still had $0.14 left. So Maitland began calling customer service trying to get her phone company to pay back the one dime and four pennies left on her account. “It is 14 cents, but it is my 14 cents, and they were after me for 2 cents. They sent me a bill for 2 cents, they expected their money,” Maitland told a local television station. Finally, after years of pestering, Maitland opened her mail to discover a check written to her in the amount of 14 cents.
Not a people person
Suffolk County (N.Y.) authorities say they caught a woman who had a fully clothed mannequin in her car’s passenger seat as she drove on the Long Island Expressway. The problem: She was in a carpool lane that requires a living, breathing passenger and was trying to trick police with the mannequin. The 61-year-old motorist now faces a $135 fine. She probably would have gotten away with her deception except for something that made a sheriff’s deputy suspicious as the car passed by him: The “passenger” was wearing sunglasses and had the visor down-on an overcast day. “At first glance this may seem humorous,” said Sheriff Vincent DeMarco, “but it is not a joking matter when you drive off with a ticket.”
