The hybrid approach

Many of you wrote-in over the past week, and we heard you loud and clear. This weekly section will continue to deliver the most outlandish, off-the-wall, and occasionally laugh-out-loud news stories of the week, as well as some hilarious or… curious synchronicities crowdsourced from around the world.

• Police say people pretending to play violin for money a 'nationwide issue' → (CW7 Kalamazoo)
• San Francisco man gets red zone parking ticket after curb was repainted while his car was parked → (ABC7)
• Filipino lawmaker wants ‘ghosting’ declared an emotional offense → (CNN Philippines)
• Polish institute classifies cats as alien invasive species → (AP News)
• Michigan woman sues man for $10k for standing her up on date, argues with judge → (USA Today)

CROWDSOURCED

Have you ever encountered a glitch in the matrix, quirky animal behavior, or even just a hilarious first grader? Tell us about it here for a chance to be featured in next Thursday’s newsletter.

👩‍🏫 Who: Ariel R. from Tucson, AZ

💬 The experience: I used to teach Sunday school for pre-kindergarten. One day, we were reading the story of David and Goliath. We had a nice picture book with matching action figures of David and Goliath to help keep the kids attention. After we finished reading the story, I asked the kids about the characters. When I asked them what David's name was, indicating with the action figure, one kid yells out, "Steve!” So of course everyone starts yelling that. So I told them, "no, his name is David." Then I asked about Goliath. To which I got the response, "the big guy" (To be fair, it's true). Again corrected them, talked a little bit more about the story, and then asked again later if anyone remembered the names… and of course the only answers I got were "Steve and Big Guy."

+Thought bubble: Steve and Big Guy Strike Back, Steve and Big Guy: The Reboot, The Adventures of Slingshot Steve and Big Guy… we’ve got ourselves an emerging franchise, y’all.

P.S. Don’t forget to share your odd or hilarious experience with us here.