Tourist, terrorist — an easy mistake to make
A Scottish couple's festive holiday plans were ruined after a man accidentally declared himself a terrorist on an entry visa form. John Stevenson and his wife, Marion, had planned to fly to New York City, but Stevenson mistakenly ticked the yes box instead of the no box. "We were filling out the visa form and it kept timing out before we could tick all the boxes," he said. "Then it crashed and when it came back up, you start where you finish off." The 70-year-old was later told that his visa had been refused because he was a terrorist. "One of the questions ask if you are a terrorist and it must have jumped from No to Yes without me knowing," he said. "My phone could be getting tapped — I don't know," he said. "It's terrible, it's shocking and so stupid. I don't know why that question is on the form in the first place." (Via the Independent)
Hands-on dating lesson
"Once, when I was younger and much, much stupider, I thought it would be a good idea to date two women simultaneously," writes a reader. "I figured that, even though they were both in the same town, the fact they moved in very different circles would mean paths would not cross. What I was not aware of was that another of my friends knew both of them. The result being we all ended up at a restaurant for an event (I really should remember the occasion given what ensued). My juggling act worked for a bit, but became spectacularly unstuck when they sat either side of me at the dinner table. I was rumbled, not by dinner discourse, but by their respective hands encountering each other during an under-the-table thigh squeeze. There were learnings."
The price we pay
1. "I needed a new chlorinator cell for my pool," writes Steve. "Rang the pool company — $1172, had to be ordered from Australia, would take a week or so. Googled it and got it for NZ$462 delivered from Australia in four days."
