Maybe. Just a little.
LEAP YEAR
A 35-year-old woman in Wuhan, China, climbed to the roof of her seven-story apartment building in January 2010 and threatened to jump. After trying to talk her down for several hours, police finally had to distract the woman, grab her, and pull her to safety. Why was she so distraught? Her husband had left for work, she explained to her rescuers…without wishing her a happy birthday. (After police contacted the husband, he promised to throw her a lavish party that evening.)
On New Year’s Eve 2006, more than 100 firemen, EMTs, police officers, and other emergency personnel responded to a call to the family home of Richard Berger in Carmel, New York. Reason for the call: Someone had broken a medical thermometer and spilled a tiny amount of mercury inside the house. Afraid to touch the mercury and not knowing what else to do, the Bergers called 9-1-1. The spill was “contained” by an emergency cleanup crew…in full HAZMAT gear. To nobody’s amazement, there were no injuries.
In 2007 Shelby Sendelbach, a sixth-grader at Mayde Creek Junior High in Katy, Texas, confessed to writing “I love Alex” on the wall of the school gym. Shelby was called to the principal’s office, questioned by a police officer, read her rights, and charged with a “level 4 infraction”—the same level applied for gun possession and making terrorist threats. (Only Level 5—for sexual assault and murder—is worse.) And she was sent to a special “disciplinary” school for four months. Officials said they were just following the rules.
Nike employees call themselves “Ekins” (Nike spelled backward), and many have “swoosh” tattoos.