Looking back over the past weeks and to the weeks ahead – to rate the noteworthy, the cringeworthy, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the truly amazing.
Heartwarming tale of generous stranger
You’re working in your garden, minding your own business and some randomer appears, asking for you by name and then pushes an envelope in your hand a runs away. You open the envelope and see it is stuffed full of $100 bills. This is precisely what happened to a pensioner in Auckland just before Christmas last year.
The envelope contained $5,000 and the pensioner has no idea why he was given it and stranger still, the benefactor is still unknown.
“When handed the envelope, the older gentleman suspected it contained cash by the weight and heft of it. He quickly tore open the top of the envelope, confirmed his suspicions and set out after the younger man in search of answers. It was a short pursuit, with the younger man quickly turning a fast walk into a quick run and disappearing out of sight. The older gentleman called police almost immediately and surrendered the money to the officers who visited his home. A month on, there are no answers from police.” (Source: “Unmasked: CCTV image shows the mystery man who delivered $5000 cash to pensioner then ran away,” by David Fisher, 30th January, www.nzherald.co.nz).
The old gent has been told by police that the money will be given to him if unclaimed but he’s not entirely sure he wants it, as he has no idea where it came from or why it was given to him in the first place.
5 stars – bit of a head scratcher but still, a ripping yarn.
Accused spy cleared after months in detention
You’ve flown thousands of miles just to see the sights and a misunderstanding lands you in jail with accusations of spying hanging over your head. That’s exactly what happened to a pigeon detained in Mumbai after officials believed writing on a ring on its foot suggested involvement in international espionage.
“Detectives suspected the pigeon was involved in espionage and took it in, before later sending it to Mumbai’s Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals. However, after eight months in captivity, it emerged that the creature was an open-water racing bird from Taiwan which had escaped and flown to India. Police then approved the bird’s transfer to the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, where doctors set free the falsely accused avian.” (Source: “Pigeon suspected of being Chinese spy released by police in India after being detained for eight months,” by Dylan Donnelly, 1st February, www.news.sky.com).
Flying from Taiwan to Mumbai is an impressive feat. As the pigeon flies, that’s a distance of nearly 5,000km. Personally I’m impressed by the fortitude of this racing pigeon, even if it’s direction is a little wayward.
5 stars – an epic tale of with a happy ending.
Not the sharpest tool in the box
For one hapless drunk driver in Dunedin, trying to worm out of his offence by lying to the police came fantastically unstuck. Thinking if he gave a fake name when pulled over, he would be in the clear, his master plan fell apart when the name the gave was of another man with a warrant out for arrest.
Pulled over at a gas station in South Dunedin, the man’s lies ended up being exposed back at the police station, where he was charged with being three times over the limit, breaching an existing driving restriction, and giving false information to police. I’d argue this is someone who should now lose the privilege of being allowed on the road.
You can read the story here.
0 stars – our roads should be safe from repeat inebriated drivers.
