xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx
Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.
News of the Weird has already reported that some people have a fondness for inserting 3-inch steel hooks in their skin and hanging from pulleys for minutes, or even an hour, at a time. In April, about 100 such aficionados attended a gathering in Providence, R.I., and participants seemed thrilled, according to a Reuters dispatch. A Connecticut teen: “It was euphoric. It was spiritual. I’d do it again today if I wasn’t so sore.” A woman, watching her boyfriend slowly swing: “Look at his face. He’s so serene. We’ve had some really rough times this year, and he needed this really bad.” A Canadian man: “The first couple of times, I didn’t enjoy it. The first time, I blacked out, and one time I was convulsing. But the third time I got better. I wasn’t blacking out anymore.”
Vickey Siles, 35, was arrested in New Haven, Ind., last year and charged with altering a check from the Globe Life and Accident Co. The check was for $1, but Siles had badly obliterated the amount and written in “$4,000,000.00.” Furthermore, she believed that she could cash a check for that amount at a neighborhood check-cashing shop (but a clerk alerted authorities). The job was so pitifully done that in March 2005, a judge gave her only a suspended sentence and probation.
A Chicago gas-station clerk tricked a robber in February by the simple ploy of telling him there was more money “up there,” pointing toward the ceiling. The robber looked, then said, “What are you talking about? There’s no money up there.” However, there was a surveillance camera there, and police were grateful for a full-face shot of the robber, according to WMAQ-TV.
(Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL 33679 or [email protected] or go to www.NewsoftheWeird.com.) NEWS OF THE WEIRD