Best hug I've had in years
"I had a wonderful experience today. An Uber driver picked me up and took me from my hotel to a store where I wanted to pick up a few beers and something to eat in my hotel that doesn't come from room service or the bar. It was just before 6am (I'm a regular visitor to the country from a timezone where 6am here is 3pm for me at home). In casual conversation I asked him if he had just started work for today. He replied that he'd been up all night and had to work until he'd made another $75. His rent is due today. Anyway, he waited while I bought my beer and food.
I paid the cashier and on the way out noticed a cash machine at the door. One of those that you have to draw cash in $20 bills. I don't know what I was thinking but $75 isn't that much money that you can't help a fellow human being out. I drew $80. When he dropped me off I asked him if I could tip him in cash rather than on the Uber app and of course he was okay with that.
When he saw the money he started crying. It was a $10 ride. He got out of the car with me and gave me a hug. He wouldn't let me go for the longest and most beautiful hug I've had in years. I said, 'Go get some sleep bro'. Sleep tight Alvin." (Via Reddit)
Testing time for judge
A High Court judge apologised when his mobile phone rang during a hearing in the London court. Judge David Holland's phone's ringtone was the rhythm and blues classic Soul Limbo by Booker T and the MGs. The song became the theme tune to BBC's coverage of test match cricket. "I am sorry," said the judge as he switched off the phone. "Very rude of me."
Champions. Er, not quite.
Tatt's a creepy idea
A mortician is offering bereaved families the option of keeping the tattooed skin of their departed loved ones. Michael Sherwood, from Cleveland, suggests that grieving relatives keep the skin as a parchment-like artwork to hang on the walls of their homes. "People put ashes in urns on mantles and visit stones with their loved one's names on them," he says. "Why not keep their tattoos as a memorial?"