WORLD GONE MAD!

We certainly live in strange times. Rather than despair, let's focus on stories that are so crazy we have no choice but to shake our heads and laugh

- Andy Simmons

UNHAPPY ANNIVERSARY

After a full year of street closures and incessant jackhammering, Natalie Naquin Harvey had had enough of the never-ending roadwork on her street in the southern US city of New Orleans. So Harvey found a way to get even: She threw a birthday party for the repairs, complete with party hats, balloons and a cake, which she decorated with construction equipment, a ‘Road Closed' sign, and a street in shambles-much like the scene outside her front door.

"Happy first birthday to our street construction!” she posted on Facebook beneath a photo of her posing beside a construction excavator. “It was one year ago this week when they first began to rip up our street. One year later, half the street is impassable-just last week, we had a massive six-foot-deep hole!"

The embarrassed city has pledged to speed up the roadwork. As tough as it has been, Harvey does see the bright side, telling bigeasymagazine.com, “I just love any reason to make cake."

YOU HAVE TO LAUGH

Getting laid off can be traumatic. In fact, employees in New Zealand are allowed to have a 'support person' accompany them to the meeting where they get the bad news. Some bring a trusted friend, others a family member. After receiving a meeting invitation that strongly hinted he was about to be let go, Josh Thompson, a copywriter, went a different route: He invited a professional clown to be his booster. He felt sorry for the people who had to deliver the bad news, so he figured, Why not make it fun for everyone? While Thompson was losing his job, the clown made balloon animals and mimed crying. Everyone seemed to enjoy the act, says Thompson. But he admits there was one complication. “It was rather noisy with him making balloon animals, so we had to tell him to be quiet from time to time.”

WHY YOU SHOULDN'T DRINK ALONE