By Investment U
This week the “Slap in the Face” award goes to a Wall Street banker who went on the most expensive cab ride in history. How does $5 million sound?
It seems a banker was leaving a Manhattan bar following a fundraising event, and his car service didn’t show up for his ride back to Connecticut.
So, he had to take a cab. How common!
When he arrived at his home the fare was $294. According to the cabbie, the banker refused to pay the amount and said he would pay only $200. The cabbie promptly locked the car doors and drove around looking for a policeman to force this banker to pay his bill.
This guy made as much as $3 million a year!
The banker thought he was being taken back to Manhattan. How fitting!
The banker decided he wasn’t putting up with this and following a scuffle with the cabbie took a pen knife from his pocket – the kind you use to open boxes and envelopes – and cut the cabbie’s hand.
Of course, the banker was arrested for assault.
The news hit the New York papers and Morgan Stanley, who has a clause in its contracts that allows it to fire people whose behavior brings unwanted attention to the firm, has the right to freeze and deny deferred compensation – in this case about $5 million.
The banker of course is crying foul because MS piled all his personal belongings from his office in his driveway, the cabbie is filing a civil suit and Morgan Stanley has an opening for a banker.
All over $94 from a guy who makes millions a year.
That’s a real cheek smacker and well deserved.
Beer Cheaper Than Water
This week the award goes to the health minister in the Czech Republic who wants to make water cheaper than beer.
You heard me right; a glass of water in a pub in the Czech Republic is twice as expensive as beer.
The Czech Republic is the largest consumer of beer in the world and its beer-drinking heritage goes back to the 13th century.
They drink so much beer it is delivered to the pubs, not in kegs or cases, but by tanker truck. The kind we use to deliver gasoline.
And they take this stuff really seriously.
There was actually a war fought over the right to brew beer, and the patron saint of the country is also the patron saint of beer making, St Wenceslas.
I grew up in a coal mining town where there was a bar on every corner, and I thought we drank a lot of beer, but these folks are the real champs.
The health minister said he gives his efforts very little chance of success, but he will try again.
One pub owner was quoted as saying, “It really ticks me off. Beer is like mothers milk to us. The government should work on important things.”
Beer, half the price of water! Maybe it’s time for another trip to Prague.
A (Comfortable) Roll in the Hay
Finally, definitive data on an issue I mentioned here last year about space-age foam versus coil-spring mattresses. I knew this would be at the top of your list of priorities.
As you might recall from last year’s piece, foam mattresses had been criticized by their owners as being lousy for sex. The experience was described as like being stuck in quicksand. Some foam users are even having sex less often since they bought their space-age bed.
But Leggett & Platt, a manufacturer of a hybrid foam mattress, now claims to have solved the problem.
A study funded by the same, titled “Sexy Sleep,” asked 255 participants to evaluate the performance of beds after sitting, laying, jumping, rolling, bouncing and even crawling on them. (That should cover about all of it.)
The hybrid won in all categories.
It seems 85% of mattress buyers never considered intimacy when making a mattress choice. Leggett & Platt are doing their best to change that.
So, if you’re in the market for a mattress you might take a look at the Leggett & Platt “Sexy Sleep” study before making a decision.
Thank God someone is on top of the really important issues we face today.
Finally… A solution to a real problem!
Hide This Guy’s Checkbook
This one is a smack for the record books, but not a good record.
There’s a fashion designer who has a cat, but not just any cat. This cat has three maids and flies on a private jet. Crazy, right?
Hold on to your hats. This guy wants to marry his cat. His name is Karl Lagerfeld and he is dead serious.
The three maids are there to take down everything the cat does while Karl is away, and he reads it to keep up on his, umm, cat to be. I don’t know what else to call it.
When asked about the need for maids and a private jet for a cat, he said, “Why not?” His only concern is that the cat will become more famous than he is.
Oh, Karl also has a person whose only job is to follow him around with a Pepsi Max on a sliver tray. Thirsty and looney!
Someone should take this guy’s checkbook away from him.
Article By Investment U
Original Article: Slap Happy
