Sideswipe: October 11: You've been warned

Pretty sure that sign wasn't always there.

Nightmare neighbour

Our neighbours of 20 years were the worst, writes a reader. "During this period they dumped about 500 bricks on our front lawn without permission when they removed their chimney. Removed the top of our small grapefruit tree so their view would be improved. Removed fruit from our trees without permission.Took us to court twice over the same small boundary hedge and smallish tree on our section which resulted in a $40,000 legal bill to us and removal of the said tree at our expense. Once the tree had been removed they then sold up and left the district."

Look past rudeness

"I was working at a luxury department store when an elderly woman came in all in a huff because we had sent her some mail," writes a retail worker. "She thought it was a bill -- it was a gift card because she had enough points on her store card -- but before I figured that out she demanded to see our store manager. So my co-worker gives me a look like 'what a bitch' and goes to fetch him. I offer this woman some water and a seat while we're waiting. I made some small talk and she apologised for snapping. She opened up to me and confessed that she was heartbroken because her husband had recently passed away. She told me that she went straight from her parents house to her husband's house, so she's never been alone before and someone has always taken care of her. She was a housewife for over 50 years. She didn't deal with paying bills so she didn't really know how they worked in this day and age. I walked her to her car. When we got to her car she gave me a hug. When people come at me with rudeness from the get go I usually want to give them attitude back. But you never really know when someone is hurting on the inside, and you never really know how much a small bit of kindness can mean to someone." (Via Tales from Retail)

Let's put the 'reality' into Reality TV.

First Lady, last to get joke

Ivana Trump joked that because she was Trump's first wife, she must be the First Lady. Melania didn't find it funny. "I have the direct number to White House but I don't really want to call him there because Melania is there and I don't really want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I'm basically first Trump wife, okay? I'm first lady, okay?" she told ABC, laughing. The second Mrs Trump's communications team responded with this: "Mrs. Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and the President. She loves living in Washington, DC, and is honoured by her role as first lady of the United States. She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books ... There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex, this is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise."

Quick links

1.Everyday things under the microscope.

2.Average Rob inserts himself into celebrity photos and its hilarious.

3. An Unforgettable wedding.

Video pick

Japanese milk commercial. If only Fonterra's marketing was so innovative...

Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz