The weird workplace

Just kicking around; Expenses inspected; To straighten or not to straighten; Why not get a pedi too?; But dogs are allowed

Just kicking around
MARTENSVILLE, SASK. — Tim Hortons probably sees all kinds of customers in its stores every day, but one four-legged visitor raised eyebrows recently. Two RCMP officers were called to the outlet when a goat refused to leave, according to the CBC. “There was a stubborn goat refusing to leave the establishment,” said the RCMP. “The employees would ask him to leave and walk him outside, but he would just turn around and come back in through the automatic doors.” Employees said the goat walked through the parking lot and took a nap in the drive-through, so they kept an eye on him. The goat was eventually “arrested” and taken into the police vehicle. “He was very unhappy with this so the members decided to take him home instead of to holding cells at the detachment,” said the RCMP. It turns out the goat disappeared from a University of Saskatchewan Student Rodeo cabaret being held nearby. “Goliath” was later reunited with his goat companions Sparkles and Billy.

Expenses inspected 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Suspect expenses are always a challenge for payroll, but some Pentagon employees found themselves in hot water recently when it was revealed they apparently wanted the United States government to compensate them for bills they racked up at casinos and strip clubs. The Pentagon inspector general reported over one year, Defense Department employees spent US$952,258 at casinos and another US$96,576 at “adult entertainment establishments” using official travel charge cards, according to Reuters. One case involved an Air Force member who was demoted after spending US$4,686 at Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club in Las Vegas (he tried to spend an additional US$920 but had exceeded his credit limit). The U.S. Defense Department has about 1.6 million card holders who are meant to use the cards for official travel-related expenses only. 

To straighten or not to straighten? 
GREENVILLE, N.C. — A weeknight anchor saw her Facebook video go viral recently when she asked viewers whether an intern at WNCT in Greenville, N.C., should straighten her hair, according to theGrio.com. Angela Green, declaring herself biracial, said she straightens her hair because her bosses like it that way, and she recommended 19-year-old Madison, also filmed, do the same for a school project. Madison apparently had been told her full head of hair was “distracting” onscreen. “Distracting, well that is a very interesting word,” said Green. “But in the world of TV, we see it all. It just depends in what market, what audience you’re looking for right now and, really, your bosses and what they allow... my suggestion was to just straighten it out just to please everybody.” The video garnered nearly one million views. 

Why not get a pedi too?
PHILADELPHIA — Employers are always worried about the dine-and-dash customers who don’t pay for their meal, but a nail salon in Philadelphia had a different kind of problem recently. A man wearing a hoodie walked in and requested a manicure, but after the job was done, the “customer” pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and demanded money. Video shows the man leaning over the table, rummaging through drawers, looking for cash, while employees at Rockland Nails try to stay out of his way. The man eventually grabbed an unknown amount of money and ran off, with no one injured. Police are now looking for a black male, about 30 to 40 years old, six feet tall with a stocky build — and presumably very nice nails.

But dogs are allowed
CYPRUS — Restaurants post all kinds of signs in their windows but one in Cyprus raised eyebrows recently, leaving some customers confused. The poster shows the profile of a woman raising her baby into the air, with a man raising his arms nearby, underneath a ceiling fan. It appears to be warning parents not to lift children into ceiling fans, according to the Mirror. Posted on social networking site Reddit, the image left Internet users bemused: “It’s a warning not to offer your child as a sacrifice to the ceiling fan God while playing basketball with a friend,” wrote user ShadowOfTheWasp. “Most people are perfectly able to not do this but obviously there’s always that one person, so they made a warning.” And Reali5t had this to say: “We know children can be a------s and disrupt your dining experience, but there is no reason to lift them to be decapitated by the ceiling fan.”

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