The heist, jewel theft, stealing gold or artifacts, sneaking off with the big diamond – these are a certain class of crime that holds some unusual place in our collective consciousness. We often think of it as something for fiction. Indeed, there are countless films depicting a heist of some sort. When we watch these films, we are often conflicted. A common structure or theme is that the focus is on the thief or thieves as the protagonists.
Life often imitates art, but when it comes to the events of the past week, it seems our modern-day tales are giving the beloved comedy “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” a run for its money. First, we witnessed a train filled with European parliament members who ended up in the ‘most magical place on earth’ on their way to work. Meanwhile, in the sky, a flight bound for sunny Florida made a sudden return to Panama City for an “explosive blowout”. And finally, in the realm of automobiles, we hear of an ambitious Indiana woman who took a test drive in a new car from the dealership to her potential place of employment for the job interview. Hold onto your tickets, seatbelts, and steering wheels; we’re in for quite a ride!
Trains
On a journey intended for serious parliamentary affairs, members of the European parliament and their teams experienced an unexpected touch of enchantment. Departing from Brussels, Belgium, destined for Strasbourg, their train took an unplanned detour due to a signaling error. To their surprise, they found themselves amidst the whimsical ambiance of Disneyland Paris.
While some officials took the opportunity to jest about the unexpected visit, with references to Disney slogans and playful banter about being a “Mickey Mouse parliament”, the reality was that they were caught between the Art of Marvel and Main Street USA. France’s national railway company, SNCF Networks, explained that the detour was a result of a signalling error at the Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle TGV station.
Despite the unexpected magic-filled twist, the train was delayed by a mere 45 minutes and successfully reached its intended destination in Strasbourg. One can only wonder, was this a simple error, or the universe’s way of sprinkling a bit of fairy dust on an otherwise routine trip?
Planes
In an era where security concerns reign supreme, even the most mundane items can trigger a massive response. Case in point: A flight bound for Tampa, Florida, from Panama City was sent into a security frenzy after an adult diaper was mistakenly identified as a potential bomb. Just an hour into their journey, passengers aboard the Copa Airlines flight faced unexpected turbulence – not from the skies, but due to the discovery of this “suspicious” item in one of the airplane’s lavatories. T
he aircraft was promptly diverted back to its origin, Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport, where it was stationed on an isolated tarmac. The 144 passengers aboard were evacuated as an anti-explosives team swung into action.
However, the climax of this high-stakes drama turned out to be rather anticlimactic. After rigorous inspection, the so-called bomb was revealed to be nothing more than an adult diaper. This innocuous discovery led the National Police of Panama to comment about the mix-up on social media, confirming the diaper’s identity. Jose Castro, the leader of the airport’s security team, also commented on the incident, ensuring there was no risk to the passengers. After the lengthy delay, the flight resumed its journey, touching down in Tampa later in the evening. A timely reminder that sometimes, things are just not as they appear.
And Automobiles
In an unconventional approach to transportation, Kasia Shelton of Muncie, Indiana, allegedly swiped a 2013 Kia Optima from a local dealership to attend a job interview in Indianapolis—presumably at a strip club. In a surprising turn of events, after her appointment, she returned the car, parking it nearby the dealership. However, leaving the keys in the ignition led to another individual making off with the vehicle. The car was later found between Muncie and Indianapolis. Authorities linked Shelton to the initial theft through an online form she had filled out on the dealership’s website. When confronted, she was puzzled by the arrest, believing that returning the vehicle absolved her of wrongdoing. The story takes another twist with Shelton acknowledging she saw the car later on someone’s Snapchat. She now faces charges for auto theft and identity deception, potentially leading to jail time. Whether she secured the job remains a mystery.
That’s all for this week. Just like the famous movie, these stories all had surprise arcs and I hope provided you with a few laughs. No matter how you choose to get around, you can never be too sure what kind of twists and turns await you on your travels.
This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays we’re looking at mascot incidents. I was in Atlanta recently and I managed to take in several Braves games. The Braves mascot, Blooper, has been in the news this week because of a Twitter spat with the Philly Phanatic.
Years ago, I was approached to do a TV series about my lawyer life. At the time I was so focused on matters that were headed to the Court of Appeal that I didn’t give it much thought. But I’d love to do something about fast food and restaurants because there are always interesting legal issues arising from the food world. Over the summer fast-food law ended up being a theme on my blog. Here we are in October and Weird and Wacky Wednesdays is once again the “Food Law Blog.”
From kids going on interstate adventures without parental consent, to footballers feeling mocked by their own team, and artists defining modern art in the most audacious ways, the world never ceases to amaze with its share of bizarre stories. These new stories fit perfectly in the blog for weird and wacky Wednesdays. As we journey from the sunny roads of Florida, through the passionate football stadiums of Italy, to the innovative art spaces of Denmark, prepare to be both entertained and bewildered by these real-life events. Truth is definitely stranger than fiction
Usually we get most of our Weird and Wacky Wednesdays from Florida, but today we have all three stories from the land down under, Australia! Hemispheres don’t matter when it comes to unexpected and unbelievable. Their stories are just as weird and wacky if not more than the usual ones that we get on our weekly roundup. It’s good to see that we are all really just same, regardless of accents and distance. For this week, we have snakes on a surfboard, a post-post-post-partum lawsuit and a meth experiment gone wrong.
Ah, crime. Often real and scary, sometimes imagined and funny. And that is what we have here for you today. As autumn starts and the weather cools, we’ve rounded up some of the most amusing legal shenanigans, real or imagined. So, pop some popcorn and let’s recount the tales of citizens who were shocked and surprised when they saw these news stories firsthand.
With the return of kids to school, for most of us the summer, and tourist season, has come to a close. Some of our Weird and Wacky Wednesday stories are inevitably about people on vacation doing stupid things, and we tend to focus on stupid things they do in the US. Today we’d like to challenge the assertion that American tourists are the stupidest by looking at some of the horrible things people from other nations have done.
Summer is ending and in Vancouver it feels like summer stopped yesterday with the first cool, rainy day of the season. Many welcome the end of summer and the coming of long-needed rain. I like it hot. When the summer stops abruptly, I grieve just a little. But I understand how people feel. Sometimes you just want it to stop. This week we are stopping our summer review of weird and wacky food-law stories and looking at cases where people just want it to stop.
This seems to be the summer of the food fight. This week our Weird and Wacky Wednesday stories once again deal with the throwing of food. Has food become the new weapon of choice?
