"I was on a beach holiday with my wife, 9-year-old and 7-year-old daughters," writes a contributor to Reddit. "The kids had been pestering me about getting a pet. In my infinite fatherly wisdom, I promised the girls they could 'have a seagull' if they could catch it.Because, come on, that just ain't gonna happen. Later in the week, I am lounging in my beach chair when my oldest daughter nabs a seagull in a butterfly net. After many seconds of cheering from both daughters and confused grey and white flapping, I managed to collect my jaw off the sand. I ordered my daughter to let the bird go. Both daughters were quite annoyed because it had taken them days to formulate and successfully execute their plan to acquire a pet." The tale has a happy ending as the dad convinced his girls a puppy would be a better pet and learned to never over-promise or underestimate girls with their heart set on a goal.
A slight case of medical misadventure.
The real Cinderella complete with eye-gouging
Fairytales were much more gruesome before Disney romanticised them. Here's how Cinderella was originally written. "In the modern Cinderella fairytale we have the beautiful Cinderella swept off her feet by the prince and her wicked step-sisters marrying two lords - with everyone living happily ever after. The fairytale has its origins back in the 1st century BC where Strabo's heroine was actually called Rhodopis, not Cinderella. The story was similar to the modern one with the exception of the glass slippers and pumpkin coach. But, lurking behind the pretty tale is a more sinister variation by the Grimm brothers: the nasty step-sisters cut off parts of their own feet in order to fit them into the glass slipper - hoping to fool the prince. The prince is alerted to the trickery by two pigeons who peck out the step-sisters' eyes. They end up spending the rest of their lives as blind beggars while Cinderella gets to lounge about in luxury at the prince's castle." (Via Listverse)
A reader writes: "A friend received these delightful kiwi rugby stickers from the $2 Shop from a real estate agent he had dealt with in the past and regaled me with other 'tokens of esteem' he has been sent over the years including a small plastic ruler, a small bottle of hotel soap. A mate gets a card addressed to him and his ex-wife every Christmas. They've been apart for four years now." Please email Sideswipe with any other fine examples of cutting-edge estate agent marketing.
Retro style
"Home décor in 1965 was, you might say, perfection - the high water mark in 20th century interiors. Why? It was the midpoint between the conservative style of the 1940s and 50s and the over-the-top styles of the late 1960s and 70s; striking a harmonious balance between the two. A perfect blend of subdued elegance with kitschy excess. If I could remodel my entire home with 1965 Mad Men flair, I'd do it in a minute. So, here is a look at interiors from the apex of interior decoration, 1965"
