Sideswipe: February 18: An eye for a freebie

What are the weirdest things flight attendants have seen in their line of duty? asks quora.com. Katerina Simms writes: "I had a friend who worked as a flight attendant and she got into a mild argument with a guy who insisted on having everything that was free on the flight. He was highly annoying and constantly asked crew for stuff. If he saw someone next to him get something, he wanted it too. At one point during the flight a lady asked for a sanitary pad to help her with an "emergency" situation. He insisted he should have one, too - cos you know, it's free, right? My friend tried to reason with him. I'm not sure if his English was 100 per cent, because he insisted ... Upon receiving his sanitary pad he proceeded to peel the paper backing off and expose the sticky side; he stuck the thing over his eyes and soon afterwards fell asleep."

Cheers to Dan's weather

"We have invented a new drinking game that takes only minutes," writes a reader. "But you have to fill the glasses quickly. When Daniel Corbett on TV One does the weather it is: One shot when he says 'big fat high'. One shot when he raises his eyebrows. One shot when he uses a metaphor or simile to describe the weather. One shot when he moves his arms and head like a Thunderbird puppet. We were going to have one shot when he pointed at the viewer but the bottle was emptying too quickly."

Food fanaticism in the bread aisle

Killing the romance

A reader writes: "I took my wife down to Silo Park/Wynyard Quarter on Valentine's Day to watch the outdoor movie, but after circling the side streets with no spare parking spots to be found we entered the public pay and display car park. Initially it appeared surprisingly empty but had a queue of cars entering and exiting without parking. On closer inspection it seems that a quarter of the parks had been reserved for an entire week (no mention of specific times) for the Volvo Ocean Race. Obviously they were not required on Saturday at 7.30pm so 30-odd car parks lay empty all boasting signs with the threat of vehicles being towed away or fined. What a total waste. So after not being able to find a car park, we went home and watched a DVD instead. Many thanks Auckland Council."

Good read: How one stupid tweet can ruin your life. "I started to wonder about the recipients of our [online] shamings, the real humans who were the virtual targets of these campaigns," writes Jon Ronson from the New York Times. "So for the past two years, I've been interviewing individuals like Justine Sacco: everyday people pilloried brutally, most often for posting some poorly considered joke on social media. Whenever possible, I have met them in person, to truly grasp the emotional toll at the other end of our screens. The people I met were mostly unemployed, fired for their transgressions, and they seemed broken somehow - deeply confused and traumatised."

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