FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT

E-mailed to me by a friend, stupid but true stories

Darwin Awards 2005

Yes, it's that magical time of the year again when the Darwin Awards
are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.
Here then, are the glorious winners:

1. When his 38-calibre revolver failed to fire at his intended
victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California, would-be
robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder.
He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again.
This time it worked...


And now, the honorable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting
machine and after a little hopping around, submitted a claim to his
insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one
of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and lost
a finger. The chef's claim was approved.


3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car
during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a
woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.


4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus
driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be
transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting
to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop
and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered
the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients
were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception
wasn't discovered for 3 days.


5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious
head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he
received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying
to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he
was hit.


6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the
counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash
drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the
register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash
from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The
total amount of cash he got from the drawer ... $15. (if someone
points a gun at you and gives you monsy, is a crime committed?)


7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided
that he'd just throw a cinderblock through a liquor store window,
grab some booze and run. So he lifted the cinderblock and heaved it
over his head at the window. The cinderblock bounced back and hit
the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor
store window was made of Plexiglass. The whole event was caught on
videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man
grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the
woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher.
Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in
the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of
the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied,
"Yes, officer that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse fro


9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a
Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 5 a.m., flashed a gun, and
demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't
open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered
onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man,
frustrated, walked away.


A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER!

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked
on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police
arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor
home near spilled sewage. A police spokeman said that the man
admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his siphon hose into the
motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle
declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he'd
ever had.