A reader writes: "At about 7pm last Friday evening our 5ft nothing office manager went to our office carpark in Newmarket to find her car window smashed and two large men stealing her bag. (Yes, she knows it was dumb to leave it in the car). When the thieves realised they had been seen, they ran off, taking her bag with them. Ignoring standard police advice about not getting into confrontations, she chased them, caught hold of the guy who had her bag and tried to wrestle it off him. He pushed her off and kept running. The three of them ran up Carlton Gore Rd and across to the Domain, office manager screaming at them to give her bag back. A passing jogger saw what was happening and without hesitation tackled the bag carrier and recovered the bag. Meanwhile, a group of passers-by heard all the fuss, and came running to help. With the best of intentions, they leapt on the jogger, who was unfortunately still holding the bag. Office manager arrived seconds later and did the introductions, but the thieves took advantage of the darkness and confusion to leg it through the Domain. Office manager counts herself lucky, as she got her bag back, wasn't hurt, and insurance will cover the car window. She's very grateful to the passers-by, and especially the anonymous jogger, who apparently remained cheerful throughout."
* * *
Christine was driving to the airport on Monday night from a meeting at Galbraiths Ale House in Mt Eden, when she heard a strange sound ... "I thought I could hear squeaking sounds and as it was raining I assumed it must be the wipers. The sounds persisted for the whole 25km journey and when I got to the Koru Car Parking [at Auckland Airport] I suddenly realised a cat or kitten was in the car somewhere! Not inside the car, not in the boot ... popped the bonnet and there it was - a very teensy grey kitten looking at me with very wide and wild eyes - tucked-up on top of the carburettor. Said kitten (now called Hitch) was put in a box by the Koru Club people, given a drink of milk and put aside for husband to collect the next day while I went off to catch my flight to Wellington."
* * *
Cieran Marshall from Albany writes: "While travelling on the Northern Express this week, I overheard some young high school girls deep in discussion about a new Tui billboard that read, 'I think I might sleep in on the 25th - Yeah, right.' One of the girls turned to her friend and asked, "What's happening on the 25th?" To which her friend replied, "Duh - it's Christmas."
* * *
In Italy, the city council of Lucca has banned any new ethnic restaurants from opening, a move quickly imitated by the government of Milan. Members of the anti-immigrant Northern League praise the measures for helping to preserve Italian cuisine. They also accused kebab-shop owners and managers of other ethnic restaurants of working too hard and creating unfair competition for Italian restaurants. (Source: Reason.com)
* * *
See today's cartoon
Today's Video Webpick: Get a load of the confident guy and his fancy business card. click here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.