Chuck the Choco
Valentine’s Day is complicated in Japan. On Feb. 14, women traditionally give men chocolates: “giri choco,” or “obligation chocolates,” to their male colleagues, and “honmei choco,” or “true feelings chocolate,” to their boyfriends or husbands. Japanese men, meanwhile will end up returning the favor on “White Day,” which is celebrated on March 14. But, according to Japan Today, Japanese women are rebelling against giri choco; 40% of workers see the custom “as a form of power harassment,” and some companies have now banned the practice. Women find giving chocolates to associates stressful. “Before the office ban, we had to worry about things like how much is appropriate to spend on each chocolate and where we draw the line in who we give the chocolates to,” said one worker.
Life in the ’burbs
Looking for a new home? A newly listed suburban Philadelphia home offers something a little sideways from your typical basement rumpus room. The five-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath brick colonial in Maple Glen has three fireplaces, a gourmet kitchen… and a sex basement. The finished lower level includes a bed-in-a-cage, complete with straps, whips and other accouterment for any buyer’s 50 Shades of Grey-like fantasies. Realtor Melissa Leonard stresses, however, that the basement “can be converted back to a typical suburban basement.” (A sex basement isn’t typical in the suburbs?) Neighbors are shocked, shocked to find out what’s been going on in their neighborhood.
Family Food Feud
A dispute over a box of Cheez-Its provoked a DeKalb County, Ga., man to do the unthinkable on Feb. 12. As Jeremy Lamar Wyatt, 32, his brother and 61-year-old mother argued over the cheesy, salty snacks, Wyatt went outside, locked his family inside the home, poured gasoline on the front steps and started a fire, according to WGCL-TV. Wyatt’s brother was able to lower the mother down from a second-story window, and both escaped without injury. Wyatt was taken into custody at the scene and charged with arson and criminal damage to property.
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Slip-Sliding Away
Jason Mackenrodt, 37, was making his getaway after robbing the Bangor Savings Bank in Waterville, Maine, on Feb. 12. He scrambled across four lanes of traffic and into a restaurant parking lot, where he slipped on the ice and sprawled on the ground, right in front of Maine State Police Special Agent Glenn Lang, who was sitting in his parked car. Lang didn’t know the bank had been robbed, but he became suspicious when “money and a gun spilled onto the parking lot,” Police Chief Joseph Massey told the Morning Sentinel. Lang tackled Mackenrodt and took him into custody as police were responding at the bank.
Really High on Meth
In Seattle, Douglas Braden Smyser, 21, boarded a plane on Feb. 13 on his way to Los Angeles and a drug rehab center in Malibu, Calif., but his behavior during the flight finally caused the pilot to land in Portland, Ore., and have him removed from the plane. Smyser, from Bonney Lake, Wash., would not stay in his seat, tried to sit in first class and threw his backpack in the aisle. Passengers helped contain him until the plane could land safely. Smyser admitted later that he had “eaten meth” before boarding, which made him “suspicious and paranoid,” reported KIRO TV. He also claimed to have a gun. He was charged with second-degree disorderly conduct and menacing, along with a federal charge of interference with a flight crew.
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