Sideswipe: April 12: Missing mitten

Snapped in Dunedin. The case of the missing mitten.

Rescue dwarfs all others

"Always a Good Samaritan my daughter," writes a parent. "One morning in Bondi, she spotted from behind what appeared to be a toddler about to cross a busy road and no sign of mum! Quick as a flash, with her long legs and high heels flying, she darted through the traffic and whisked the unattended toddler off his feet ... But the 'toddler' was a very disgruntled dwarf who swore at her."

Traveller makes booboo

Erik Wetting writes: "One of my friends was a Quarantine Officer at Auckland International Airport. A young female passenger was referred to her having declared she used hiking footwear (which is always checked for soil, seeds and manure).'Show me the boots please,' my friend asked the jetlagged passenger, who stared blankly at my friend for a moment and then with a shrug started to remove her T-shirt and bra ... 'I said boots!"'

Keeping hubby in tow

A Clayton's Tow. "After breaking down in the 'new' Commodore late one evening, I rang my husband to come and get me," writes Margaret Holt. "Not amused, he arrived in the ute and I elected to be the tower and carefully commenced the 10km drive home. I drove slowly around corners on the windy road, across cattle stops and down the driveway home! I jumped out of the ute and ... there was no car! I back-tracked even slower, checking over the road edges, and there some 8km back in the middle of the road was a Commodore, and an irate husband waiting. Guess who towed who home this time."

Garage sale movable feast

Sharon Roberts writes: "My sister is an avid garage sale fan and one advert led her to a street in Timaru. She arrived at the address to an already busy driveway and discovered the sale wasn't terribly well organised, with items spread through the house and still without price stickers. With her reluctant daughter in tow, they strode from room to room sorting and gathering wares, while looking for someone to pay ... Eventually they met the home owner who told them he was not having a garage sale, he was moving house! Right street, wrong house."

Great game, sorry I missed it

My name is Brendon McDonald and my story starts on a sunny Friday afternoon in September 2011. A friend and I were fizzing with excitement, I had shouted us a couple of tickets to a RWC match in Hamilton (which is the big smoke when you're from Feilding) and we had stumbled upon the Speights Ale House which was owned by Aaron Pene (ex Otago and Maori All Black). The atmosphere was electric. I definitely had a "glow on" by the time we got to the stadium. More beer and it was time to sing our anthem. Full of pride and booze I sung with passion and vigour, I even had a crack at Japan's. I entertained the crowd with a feast of Maori songs and traditional dancing. By half-time I was running out of steam and by full-time I don't remember much ... The next morning I awoke to a barrage of text messages and missed calls - yes they had all seen me in the crowd during the game. Yes that is me, nose picking video bomber at the RWC, featured not once but twice in the biggest newspaper in the country.