I was in my back yard one day when two police officers walked through my gate. Surprised, I asked if I could help them. One of them said, "have you seen a duck go by?" I HAD just seen a duck go by...she walked past me and into my pond. I was wondering what kind of legal trouble a duck could possibly be in, when I realized one of the cops was carrying a trash can, and the peeping of little ducklings was coming from it. It turns out the ducklings had been washed into the sewer, a neighbor had heard them and called the police, and the police had rescued them. They asked if they could put the ducklings in my pond, I said sure, and then there was a VERY cute family reunion.
Speaking of respect and funerals...My Dad was raised in Pennsylvania and remembers being in a funeral procession. The Amish they passed plowing with horses stopped, took off their hats and waited for the procession to go by. He thought that was sweet.
@@ahwell9984 I've never really seen exactly what you describe in Massachusetts, and I've been here my whole life. People do yield the right-of-way at intersections, etc., and let the funeral procession pass intact though, as mentioned. That's actually required by law too.
I was born in Colorado and grew up in San Diego CA. And you need to keep beans on toast outta your mouth. Lol you don't like it fine but it's great lol.
I was born in Colorado and grew up in San Diego CA. And you need to keep beans on toast outta your mouth. Lol you don't like it fine but it's great lol.
Don’t come after our glorious beans on toast. We’ve gone to war for less. I’ll assume you’ve never experienced the joy of having beans on toasted sourdough bread, with a grating of mature cheddar over the top on a cold autumnal day so you’re forgiven
@RogerWilco99 I'm sure you're probably right. I had an uncle who raised them. It would never have occurred to him to feed them people food (he was a contemporary of my father's, who was born and raised during the depression).
Still laughing, "not 50% on zero, that would be zero." I tipped 50% on a floor installation that I thought went really well. Just kitchen and bedroom, linoleum and carpet, and they did the job so fast, and in my opinion it was so cheap, I gave them ....a few hundred Euros more. My husband will never understand why I did that. I was new here. I wanted to pay what I thought was appropriate. Sometimes you just feel the need to really reward someone, you get that.
I grew up in a very rural area in FL. Every year we had an event called the Ham Jam, which was a giant party (almost like a fair) and bar-b-que contest. One of the events was always pig racing, but the pigs being raced were pot belly pigs and they did absolutely nothing fast. They sort of meandered around the track, rooting here and there, to the raucous cries of the audience on the sidelines. I used to love going to the Ham Jam 😂.
Pot bellied pigs are pets and domestic animals. Very unusual to eat one. Very. The pigs were just having fun. Some pigs are trained to run in pig races and betting, along with prize money, does occur.
My wife and I used to go to the annual Metropolis Superman Celebration every year (Before the recent insanity in the world). If you showed up dressed as Zod during the Celebration, you'd be well received and invited to a bunch of room parties and costume photo shoots. You do that any other time of the year, you'd see a much of locals take a deep breath, roll their eyes, and then affect a placating, welcoming smile.
I'm from a small town in Pennsylvania that used to have bed races during the yearly fair. The beds were on wheels, and 4 people pushed with one on the bed basically cheering them to the finish line. There was usually alcohol involved lol.
Where i grew up in rural Missouri, there's a small town community picnic involving an outhouse race. Sounds similar to your bed race. I'm guessing the costumes are hilarious?!
When I was younger, I got to go to Mammoth Cave National Park to take one tour or another. This is a spectacular place and worth mentioning, IMO. There was the 4-hr All-Day Tour, and the 6-hr Wild Cave Tour. First, Mammoth Cave is gargantuan, and it crosses a number of states underground. It links to a number of other caves that offer tours as well. It is a limestone cave with Karst topography, which means that it was carved out by rivers and underground water dissolving the limestone. There is a river that does flow underground there at one point: the Green River. We wore a hard hat with a lamp, and I bumped my head on the low ceiling several times going in. At one point, over a fairly steep drop, we walked on a shelf over it which split so you have to have a foot on either side of the split as you walked. We slogged through the Green River, and I fell on my butt and covered myself in silt. I crawled army style through a passage so low I couldn't bring my legs up to push myself along. I could only pull myself along, arm by arm. I'm not claustrophobic, but that very low passage almost gave me a panic attack. (I recovered quickly.) At the end of the Wild Cave Tour, we overlapped with another tour there and we saw what is called "Frozen Niagara." But it's not a waterfall. It is a complex collection of mineral stalactites and stalagmites that have strikingly beautiful colors and which in itself does look like a frozen waterfall. It's beautiful. Spelunking is one spectacular thing to do in America, and Mammoth Cave is the largest cave system in the US. Worth checking out. Oh yeah. On the All-Day Tour, halfway through you are deep underground, and there is an area they put tables in called the Snowball Dining Room. Here you get a box lunch. If you need to go to the restroom, you have to go behind a giant rock. The first rock is for men, the second is for women. When I ventured back there, I was quite relieved there was up-to-date plumbing and modern bathrooms behind the rocks. But it's a fun joke!
I've been there several times and it really is quite something. I'd advise anyone going, to take a jacket or sweatshirt because it's very cool in the caves. It was always very unnerving when the guides turned off their lights due to the suddenness of pitch black and the feeling of being so far underground.
Ok, I've been binge watching this content and can't get enough 🤣🤣 And I'm an American too. The silliness cracks me up, lots of puns and jokes. This guy should do voice over work imo!
Lawrence, I once drove a Brit who arrived at O'Hare for his first visit to the USA down through NW Indiana past those same billboards. He was shocked to say the least.
@@ronjohnson5070 they are slowly disappearing. Locally, I used to laugh at one in a town half an hour north of me. There's an avenue running through that has a speed max of 45mph, gets a lit of traffic for that reason, people can "bypass" the town, where speed limit is 25mph. There was a billboard that advertised "Swords! Daggers! Knives! Incense..." 😆
In Oregon we banned billboards. Now the state has small traffic-like signs, with icons for services at exits of highways. The vendor pays for their icon/logo to be on it. I think some towns allow billboards, but i see very few, since I was an adult.
@@jodimurphy8440 like I said, some towns allow billboards. You won't see them along highways. Some personal homes may have a small personal sign of somekind, but not commercial. Its been that way a long time. I live in Willamette Valley.
Vermont, where I grew up, also banned billboards on highways. They would interrupt the view of the natural beauty of the state, especially in the fall. 🍁🍂
As a native of Metropolis, Illinois, let me give some backstory on the Superman issue. To understand how it came to be, you need to look at the geography. Metropolis is on the banks of the Ohio River, about 40 miles or so upstream from where the Ohio and the Mississippi merge (at Cairo, IL). Fort Massac, located adjacent to the town and on a bluff overlooking the river was established back in the days of George Rogers Clark. Given that rivers were the highways and freight lines of the day, it was on the assumption that the proximity to the junction of those two major rivers would lead to growth for the town, becoming a metropolis eventually. So, that's what they named it. However, they were wrong, Metropolis stagnated at around 6-7000 people and, instead, a city across the river in Kentucky grew into the 40K range. That would be Paducah, KY (also, my actual birthplace). Going back to the geography, we need to look at the highways, and imagine how things were BEFORE the interstate highway system was completed. You should be able to note that IL Hwy 45 passes directly through Metropolis and continues over to Brookport, IL, to use the Irvin Cobb Bridge to cross over to Paducah. Step back, so to speak, and you'll see that there only a handful of bridges across those rivers (without the Interstates). So, traffic from the St. Louis area (or beyond) travelling toward Nashville (or beyond) would likely be following Hwy 45, right through Metropolis. So, a constant flow of traffic meaning a constant flow of new money and maybe people. Then, the Interstates. In this case, I-24 in particular. If you look at a map, you'll see that I-24 passes just outside Metropolis, slicing through the back of the Fort Massac State Park and across its own bridge to Paducah. The business people of Metropolis looked at this and realized, the traffic flow through town was going to go away, and they needed to give people a reason to stop at their little town of 6500 or so, rather than the city of 40K five minutes later. Research discovered we were the only town bearing the name Metropolis (a name we'd had since before the author of Superman was born). And, as "luck" would have it, adjacent to the existing State Park on the highway out of town towards that new interstate was the County Fairgrounds. Even "better", on a road alongside the fairgrounds was a Quonset hut sort of building that housed a roller skating rink. They contacted the Comics people and arranged a deal with them to "officially" declare our town the "Home of Superman". A ceremony was held and it was on national news. They renamed the Courthouse Square to Superman Square, which is where the statue is now located. Signs featuring Superman appeared at the edges of town, in store windows, on the water tower, etc. They took the Fairgrounds with intentions of building Superman theme park. Not a bad idea, this was in the early 70's (my high school days) and theme parks were sprouting up everywhere at the time. They also took the skating rink to be a Superman Museum. And, put pictures of Superman's upper body with a hand out as if to say "stop", on the top of the Stop signs around town. Renamed the town's newspaper from the Metropolis News to the Metropolis Planet. Couldn't call it the Daily Planet, unless they wanted to repeat content or reduce size down to a page or two. The News was a very thin weekly paper. The name change didn't change that. However, the pictures on the stop signs disappeared with the first weeks (to reappear in various teens bedrooms, etc). The fairgrounds had the grandstands torn down and the lot cleared, but the theme park never went anywhere. The property sat with a big For Sale sign for years and has now been incorporated into the State Park next door. The museum was a bust because they had nobody with any real collections or the knowledge to properly stock and run it. Basically, aside from name changes nothing else worked. Somebody would usually play Superman in parades. That Superman statue isn't the first one there, either. If you thought it's weird now, the original statue had an out of proportion head and was an embarrassment. I missed a lot of that (joined the Navy in 76 and left town), but I remember hearing from family about how bad it was. So, what you see now is the replacement. The museum that exists now has no connection to the original feeble try. As I understand, a true collector moved to town and took on the job of making a working museum. I can't remember for sure, but the building it is now in was originally either a furniture store or an appliance store, I think. I was never in the stores on that block. And, they've also now turned an annual Superman celebration into a "thing" that apparently draws people from around the country, if not the world. The town's economy was originally factory and farm based. There was a plastics factory adjacent to the State Park, since closed and I believe recently torn down. Once upon a time, there was a button factory in the area somewhere. We used to pick up shells on the river bank with nice neat circles punched out of them. There's a chemical factory right outside town. I worked at a glove factory that's no longer there. My father worked at a coal fired power plant over at neighboring Joppa, where there was also Portland Cement and a few others. The Superman thing was a stab at keeping a flow into town. Unfortunately, that never turned into anything all that big. So, now there's a casino down on the riverfront. Hated by most of the locals, largely because of the traffic it pulls into town. It was originally an actual riverboat that was semi-permanently moored there, with the hotel building built out onto it. Went there for a high school reunion in the early 2000's. You'd walk down a hallway in the hotel, and then find yourself standing on deck. They've since removed the boat, so it's just another casino now. I will also point out that when you cross onto the river you are actually in Kentucky, technically. The state line is on the Illinios side of the river. As we used to say, go down to the river and get your feet wet, you're in KY. I don't know if that drove the location of the casino (having no idea of the difference in IL and KY casino laws).
Truthfully I don't think I've ever been to a closed casket funeral. As a kid I had lots & lots of old relatives. We seemed to be going to funerals every couple of month's. There was always a reception afterward. They were like a reunion. Everyone had a favorite story to tell about the deceased. It was a celebration of life. You would have loved the old Burma Shave signs along the roads. I too am in my 70' s. Life was really grand back then!!
I have to thank you, I busted out in a full belly laugh about the funeral scene. I know that’s not a funny thing but your reaction to the open casket visitation and the having to wait on cars in a procession hit me as funny. Then the coyote got me. And your reference to cartoon chickens. I needed this laugh. I do wonder why he was in Chicago, but I’ve heard they’ve learned that trash has food in it. So they are coming into cities more since their forests are not in existence anymore.
I had the same experience at an IHOP, one wait person covering all the tables and no manager. I too stayed for my meal and gave a generous tip after not being charged for it. I would say we were at the same restaurant at the same time, but mine was in Denver CO about 5 years ago.
I live on a mountain at the southern most point of the Sierra Nevadas. I was drinking my morning coffee and walking my puppy in the back yard when 2 juvenile mountain lions came up the deer trail next to our property. They walked single file up the trail watching us. The one in the rear looked very frightened of us. The one in the front looked quite ready to attack us if necessary. They continued following the deer trail up the mountain. It was incredibly surreal. They were about 100 feet from us. My adrenaline was pumping but I knew what a rare thing we were experiencing. Very weird but very special.
I didn’t see it myself, but in the craziness of 2020 a wallaby was spotted in my suburban Colorado neighborhood. Apparently it escaped from a sanctuary some 25 miles away, how it survived and made it so far was almost comical.
While I grew up with billboards and used them for reading practice as a young child on long boring road trips (I am part of the generation that grew up without handheld video devices or DVD players in the car and got carsick if I tried to read a book), I have seen one really weird one. We also have the accident lawyer signs, but there is one with a 3-D representation of a wrecked vehicle hanging out of it. Funeral practices always seem weird. I regret that not many people still pull aside for a funeral procession where I live. However, the first funeral I can remember attending took me aback when we went to the home of the family and proceeded to have basically a "party". People were sitting around eating fried chicken, potato salad, etc., while some of the men were sipping on beers. Meanwhile, the granddaughter was sitting on the couch weeping copiously. In the world of nature the most memorable, if not exactly weird, thing was seeing a bald eagle just sitting in a field that I pass by on my way to work and experiencing a moon set that was almost as brilliant as a sunset.
Depends on the funeral. My father knew that he was going to die, and specified that he did not want anyone to cry. He said he wanted his fellow firemen to have a beer party for him. So they did!! My mother rented the town hall and they had a double kegger
I am from the same generation. Every year when my family and I, well part of my family and I, drove up North in Michigan, we would look for certain billboards along the way. Some of them had rhymes on them. One in particular that sticks in my memory is "fatty, fatty, run for your life! here comes skinny with a butcher knife!!" I don't recall what product it was advertising
Learning to read via billboards works great until you get to the GA/FL state line on I-75 and your parents have to answer your questions about why all the girls are XXX on all the signs.
Same thing happened to me with the funeral. From what I understand, the guy was usually quite scruffy because everyone who saw him said how well he had scrubbed up. It was very bizarre.
Open casket funerals are grotesque. They provide an added element of trauma and grief to people who really don't need anymore. There are far better ways to say goodbye.
@@RonSparks2112 Why do you fear and mock the dead? Wakes and visitations are normal for most Catholic cultures. If you're some kind of extreme Protestant or an atheist or whatever, don't try to impose your bizarre beliefs on us. Just go and hide from death, which I assume you rightfully fear given what may come after for you.
I was driving through Illinois and stopped at the rest stop near Metropolis and saw a similar statue. So you don’t even have to go into town to see him, my kids loved it!
Ohh yeah that one waiter situation reminds me of something similar. Not too long ago actually we where getting McD's late like from midnight to 3am(?) and there was only one teenager working that night! Drive thru only, but still. This one kid was taking orders, cooking, and giving them out all by himself! As u can imagine the line got uber backed up but mostly I just felt bad for him. Pretty sure he was kinda new to the job too
Some weird things? I was working in Lexington, MA and looked over from my desk to see a turkey standing right in front of the door. A random fox hanging out in a busy shopping area in a suburb of Austin, TX. In a previous comment, I mentioned wiener dog races. But the weirdest of all might be the inexplicable incapacity of people from Maryland to drive competently.
I don't know. Tidewater VA is pretty bad. Pokey Patty hogs left lane so you pass her on right, then someone tailgates you for going 5 miles *over* speed limit!
In Michigan we pull over and stop for funerals and ambulances and firetrucks. I live on the outskirts between the city of midland and the Village of Sanford. I see a lot of deer, a few turkeys and possum and more raccoons than I can shake a stick at lol. Usually I’m banging on my screen door and yelling at them to get off my porch 🤣. I’ve seen a couple of fox but only one coyote. I hear them a lot from the woods by my house though. If I hear them when I get home from work I scurry inside. I notice we have a lot fewer rabbits after they cycle through couple times a year 😢. I would rather listen to the owls calling or the birds and the spring peepers 🐸 😊
Lived in Morley, Michigan for a while. On my way home from Big Rapids, I pulled over for a funeral procession heading towards Big Rapids. People were passing me, blowing their horns and making rude gestures at me.
My ancestors were from your area - Hope and Edenville. I hope you didn’t suffer too much damage in the flood. It’s interesting that you have the same animals up there that I have seen in the Detroit suburb of Livonia.
Just a short distance from you in Clare, and I had a porcupine wander through my yard on his way to the lake, I presume. Maybe looking for a mate - hard to say. And we have deer in town all the time, including the one that decided to end it all by crashing into my car - again, right in town.
AN Ostrich on my street in Petawawa Ontario. (A local farmer raises them for the Feathers) A mother bear with her cub up tree in my yard sorting thru the Neighbour's trash..
Texas here. We have bears, cougars (the furry four legged ones), a black panther (here in my area of this state), deer, alligators, wild hogs, coyotes, a few wolves, bald eagles, hawks, huge honking owls ( ya definitely have to keep an eye on your smaller dogs and the cats), and snakes galore ( rattlesnake, copperheads, water mossacons, coral snakes, and those are the dangerous ones.) I probably left some out, but I live in North East Texas, so yeah.
I live in southern Illinois and have been to Metropolis several times over the last few years during the town's annual Superman Celebration. I'm certain that if you can do a reasonable impression of Terence Stamp's "Kneel before Zod!" line, you and your Zod costume would be welcome. You could even do a special one-off video covering the festivities.
Your old Franklin College mate checking in here, wonderful to see you doing so well and with this great channel. So proud of you Lozzy B (you probably don't remember calling yourself this!). Joel ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Coyotes are pretty much everywhere in North America. We shouldn’t be surprised to see them. However, we should still be alarmed, because they can be dangerous, especially to pets and children.
Saw pig racing in Nashville, TN. It waa an adorable show. The MC has a name for each piggy and the pigs are trained. They dove into a tub of water too. So cute! I hope you get to enjoy Lincoln Park Zoo. It is a lovely day of walking and you are also only 3 hrs away from Battle Creek, Michigan's Bird Sanctuary. Beautiful variet of swans & in the bird rehabiltation area, recuperating birds of prey etc. I enjoy your channel!
I went to college in western/rural Nebraska. At one point, I was driving, and saw something brown out of the corner of my eye, so I slammed on the brakes. I did so since a lot of animals, deer and such have light brown fur. As I looked around (it was night) I realized wait I saw. Apparently, I brake for tumbleweed. Also Lawrence, you may add something new to the list, since next summer, there will be a NASCAR race in downtown Chicago.
Last year in the booming metropolis of Lebanon, Missouri, we had a brown bear walking down Jefferson Ave ( our main drag through town) during the early morning. We came to the conclusion that he was just window shopping before the rush hour.
In Hawaii on the public bus I once saw several ladies dressed in full on grass skirts, coconut bra, feathered head dress getting on the bus. I think it was a Tahitian dance group not really sure. It's expected to see this in Hawaii but not on the bus.
Matey you’re so funny, I love the humour right or wrong it’s great to watch intriguing and interesting not to mention informative to listen to. That being said I think I’ll support you on patrion. Look forward to hearing some good information on weirdness you don’t see till you hear it then you can see it sort of thing. Cheers 👍🐜🇬🇧
I have a coyote living at the end of my suburban street (a forested area not yet developed, outside of a major city). I once caught her shadowing me at dusk on a walk. Ergo, all of my pets are strictly indoors. I'm Canadian though not American, so we're automatically more... wild.
2:07 - I'm from Bloomington and feel very strongly that you are describing the city/college signs on the old 37 overpass north of town and then the weirdy-beardy church signs from the same stretch of old 37 before it hits that big hill and eventually splits into College/Walnut...
A friend and I were taking a trip in the mountains of North Carolina when we saw a woman walking past with her dog...Traffic had slowed down,and as we continued,we found out why. The woman's car was on fire.
One's nearness to Portland, Oregon is inversely proportional to one's ability to recognize weirdness. The closer you get, the less you know what weird is.
Where I live in San Antonio there a few roads that have small deer herds roaming around at dusk and night time. They stop at the side of the road and wait for cars to pass before crossing the road.
Weirder than a coyote in a big city is the fact that when a coyote wandered into Boston while I was there for college they had to release an official statement asking people to please not pet the coyote. 🤦🏼♀️ Who tries to pet a coyote?!?
My favorite billboard was one of those that's split in the middle to show 2 ads. The left side had a PSA with MARAJUANA in a huge font. The other side read "Buy fresh, buy local!" XD
Quite too many years ago I had my weirdest coyote-related incident. I was visiting one of the regional parks that wrap around the S.F. bay area like a badly fitted corset, and had just stepped out of the car to take in my first proper look at the place. This one was near enough to my then house in San Jose. I looked at the trailhead of my intended ramble, and gosh bewillies there was this coyote just standing there in the middle of the path. Naturely I did what any city boy does when confronted with actual wildlife. I froze on the spot, unintentially channelling the weird and unwarranted advice from Jurassic Park, that if you don't move their wacky eyeballs can't see you. This beast then casually turned around and sauntered off. My last impression of the coyote was the realisation that the animal was actually quite fat, so it had nowhere the physical effect of a diet limited to road runners, I supposed. Now comes the weird bit. The Instant the coyote left I chanced to look down at my feet, checking my shoes to ensure humorous fate didn't tie my shoe laces together or something, I noticed a piece of paper under my shoe. It turned out to be a ten dollar bill, which at that time was enough to put half a tank of gas in my car. Seeing that there were neither other bipeds or automobiles anywhere in sight I did what any red-blooded American would do. I picked it up and kept it. Thanks funny fate old chum. This never happened again, sad to say, since to repeat the incident to form today would require encountering both a c-note and a twenty under my shoe. Good luck getting that to happen short of being a mugger.
I live in the city and we have always had coyotes. Once we had a whole pack running along side of our car driving through the neighborhood. Night-time calls and watching them soar over 6 ft fences were routine. Have to watch your pets.
The Chicago area has all sorts of what are called "Forest Preserves", or areas of original forest that were set aside to be used as parks and areas of refuge for city people to go to "get away". All sorts of animals, including deer, skunks, and now coyotes live there. When I lived there, I would occasionally encounter the deer and skunks when they would wander out for exploration.
I also live in Chicago, and am right up against a forest preserve. I've seen a number of coyotes here due to that proximity, though I did see one near Water Tower Place once too. And one in Lincoln Park.
Lawrence, some of these are Indiana specific. As a Hoosier, it really is a weird place for billboards. The best are the Jesus billboards followed immediately by adult store billboards in alternating fashion.
I think that I shall never see a billboard lovely as a tree. Perhaps, unless the billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all.-Ogden Nash. My experience from being stationed in the UK is that the Brits will race anything...
This gave me the chuckles. Thank you. I think I remember reading there's thousands of coyotes in Chicago alone. They've adapted well. Kind of like Corvus. I don't remember why it said, but I'm guessing due to their scavenger ability and wilyness. I had to, though I likely spelled it wrong. It's unfortunate that they're being driven out of their natural environments. It annoys me that we almost never refer to ourselves as "invasive", but I'm glad the Coyotes are using their cunning. Those poor guys always seem to be the ones caught between a rock and a hard place, or maybe I should have said "between fence slats". This was enjoyable. Ah, I agree that many of our funeral practices are really strange. In the 70s, my elementary school was located near a funeral home. It was often at recess, we'd find ourselves stopping and standing at attention for a train of cars with their headlights on. "Police escort plus headlights equalled dead person so show respects by standing really still or get in trouble!" is the gist of what went through my head. The people in the cars tended to wave or smile at us as if in gratitude, which made us feel good about ourselves, and you can see the formed habit. Used to cars definitely pulled over and stopped. Even on the interstate. I don't see it to the same extent these days. Then again, I don't see funeral processions as often either. Location maybe, for surely there's not less. Now you've given me something I'm not really interested in but have to look up for curiosities sake. Enjoy your own chuckle! 🤪🦋
Coyotes kill small pets, that’s one way they survive. I know from personal experience. Also IMO we don’t refer to ourselves as invasive because it’s not accurate. For some reason, the most spectacular species in the world, the human being, is set aside as if we were dropped from another planet entirely. We marvel at the beauty of the great cats, the dophins, etc...the beauty of the human being is just as breathtaking. Ultimately, given how developed we are, it’s a matter of being good caretakers, but the give and take of mother nature is never ending. I live in the country, when you’ve seen enough dead bodies, or parts of bodies, or aged deer bones, etc...or had to pull porcupine quills out of your dog’s face because one showed up in the yard, or clean off the stink of a skunk (YUCK), eh...the list goes on, but you get the point. I’m grateful to have what I have, and that includes the intellect a human being is born with, rather than being limited to animal instinct and low intelligence, living life in a tree where a bird of prey could come swooping down to eat me any moment.
The one pig race I saw (at a County Fair) the pigs all got a full can of Coca-Cola and Oreo cookies. Pigs don’t eat hay. They eat “slop”, which is a bunch of vegetable scraps.
The first time I met my ILs from Hawaii when they were visiting northern Il they raced to the picture window and they were amazed and intently watching.. a squirrel. I had quite the laugh. They don’t have them so it was exciting. When I visit them my eyes are wide eyed at the flowers, ocean, waterfalls, mountains. Wide eyed for a squirrel or rabbit though?
I have a similar story to the iHop thing. I was at a Thai restaurant on a Saturday. There was only 1 waiter and it was a young man, place had a lot of customers and it looked like there was only 1 chef as well. I decided to give a generous tip and leave a review of the place, telling the owner to give the young man a day off.
I live in Milwaukee. Quite a few years ago, my wife & I when out to one our county parks. This one is a man-made park sticking out into lake Michigan called veterans park. Now it's a nice little park with trees and a pond & picnic tables and parking area in the middle. As we were driving in, the park was full of people enjoying a beautiful summer day. Suddenly I see something moving fast through the crowd of people. Thousands of people and one deer 🦌 running, for what it believes, is it's life. How it got there in the middle of day is a big mystery. There is a bike trail near the park that runs along an old railroad track so that is a 'highway' for wild animals such as deer & coyotes, but like that old horror movie, they only come out at night.
I live in East Texas and they would keep them at home in the casket for 3 or 4 days and you would go over there and have a great lunch or dinner so it's not unusual!
The reason there's so many "Florida man" stories is because of their Sunshine Law; requiring proceedings of government agencies to be open or available to the public. Florida's law was signed in 1967.
If you want to get kind of a sense of what a funeral is like for a while in the US watch the music video for Ray Stevens sitting up with the Dead. It is a funny song/video.
The weirdest American funeral practice that I know of is drive through viewing. It's not widely done, but it has been done for years in some places. You can just drive up to the window, give Uncle Harvey a wave and a toot on the horn (unless Bob's your uncle -- haha), then drive through your favorite fast food restaurant for a meal, and not get out of your car the whole time!
Many Coyotes have adapted to city life, they know where to find food, avoid traffic by reading the traffic lights, it's amazing how adaptable they are.
You should have referenced a road runner. You may have even seen one since they were reintroduced, albeit on a limited basis, by Chrysler corporation. They are what is called a muscle car, which I doubt they have in Britain. Might be a topic worth a look for a future installment. Blessings.
Wakes seem to be more of a mid-west/east coast thing where it’s more traditional. I’m from the west coast, but lived in Chicago and was surprised at the contrast (in general - not just related to death). Here we might have a “viewing” at the funeral home - which is optional. On the odd occasion of an actual “Funeral,” it is either open or closed-casket. The majority of people are being cremated and only a “Memorial” is held.
I am originally from southern Illinois and have been to Metropolis several times. The Superman statue is only a little odd to see but that is his town.
Balloon boy was practically in my home town, definitely my home state. Billboards we don’t have ‘ quite’ so many here in Colorado. By I have seen billboards in Tennessee that are an an seemingly endless stream of THE SAME DAMN FIREWORKS ADVERTISEMENT every 300 or so feet ( 90ish meters ) for 3 BLEEEEPING!!!! Miles ( 5ish KM )
Sometime in the 70's, a student at Portland Prep who had an old hearse as his car got a bunch of other students together to form a "funeral" procession at lunch and just started driving. 2 motorcycle cops saw them and escorted them across the city until they realized they weren't going anywhere. At which point the students who couldn't drive away were thoroughly chewed out by police trying not to laugh.
When I was in high school (fairly affluent suburb of a fairly large midwestern city) every year we had a fundraiser which consisted of a donkey basketball game. It was the senior class vs. staff/faculty wearing football helmets riding small asses which were shod with rubber pads so as not to damage the floor of the gymnasium. Hysterically funny.
We used to have donkey basket ball too! The teachers would ride them....hilariously funny! I thought it was a hillbilly thing and here you say it's in the Midwest! Nice!
@@Junkinsally the coveted position was the guy who had the broom and the shovel and cleaned up the inevitable "accidents", the biggest honors were bestowed upon him!
Here in the Northeast(or atleast New Hampshire), most of our billboards seem to be about businesses and cars, I don't think I remember ever seeing a billboard about religion other than at churches and other religious buildings.
Speaking of super heroes, if you hang around Kokomo Indiana long enough you are likely to see a gentleman jogging around town in a full Batman costume!
Drive down to Lincoln, Illinois (between Bloomington and Springfield) and see the granddaughter n elevator museum. At the Aurora, Illinois municipal airport there’s a museum of military aircraft. I think the United States has a museum/tourist attraction for anything you can think of.
As a server and bartender, that works alone, in a 35 seat bar and grill, THANK YOU! Thank you for being kind to a young man trying hard to serve his customers, and tipping above and beyond. When the door opens and the place fills up in 5 minutes flat, I throw menus at everyone, let them know that I see them, and will be with them as quickly as I can. 80% of people see me running around and are incredibly understanding, but the other 20% get irate. It seems as though some people have an unearned sense of entitlement. They will wave their hands in the air, shout "WAITER", and try to get other customers riled up. Coincidentally, they are usually the last people to walk into the crowded restaurant, then expect me to drop it all to be at their beck and call. I try to finesse them back into a better mood and gently point out that I have a few tables ahead of them. I figure I have a 50/50 shot at winning them back over, and I usually can. BUT some people treat me so awfully that I'd prefer they go elsewhere. It's really a shame that so many people act that way, however, they are the exception, not the rule. Anyway, just came here to say my thanks for being a decent human in what was definitely a chaotic time.
as someone who has also worked in the resturant industry, i get where youre coming from. ive always thought that if one want to eat at any resturant, you have to work in one during dinner service for an hour or two. if people did that, theyd understand how hard everyone is working in front and back of the house to get food out in a timely manner, and patrons would be less jerks about it.
Absolutely the unsung heros of the food service industry! He 1) showed up. 2) Was actually trying to do his (and that of several others) job. Which is somewhat unusual these days, sad as it is. I never tried table service. I have Cerebral Palsy, so nobody would have been pleased with the result, but yes. The dude was commendable for his work ethic. Blessings to him. He probably is self employed where he still may sometimes not get paid, bit has a better life.
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I was in my back yard one day when two police officers walked through my gate. Surprised, I asked if I could help them. One of them said, "have you seen a duck go by?" I HAD just seen a duck go by...she walked past me and into my pond. I was wondering what kind of legal trouble a duck could possibly be in, when I realized one of the cops was carrying a trash can, and the peeping of little ducklings was coming from it. It turns out the ducklings had been washed into the sewer, a neighbor had heard them and called the police, and the police had rescued them. They asked if they could put the ducklings in my pond, I said sure, and then there was a VERY cute family reunion.
Awww...! Sweet story. I'm glad you were there! :-D
Oh my goodness! It’s Make Way for Ducklings in real life! ❤
Sweet!❤❤
That's awww-inspiring! Absolutely wonderful!
Ahh nice that you allowed the to live in your pond.
Speaking of respect and funerals...My Dad was raised in Pennsylvania and remembers being in a funeral procession. The Amish they passed plowing with horses stopped, took off their hats and waited for the procession to go by. He thought that was sweet.
That still happens in the American South.
Also in Boston. People stop their cars and stand beside them. Sometimes they cross themselves.
@@ahwell9984 I've never really seen exactly what you describe in Massachusetts, and I've been here my whole life. People do yield the right-of-way at intersections, etc., and let the funeral procession pass intact though, as mentioned. That's actually required by law too.
Lawrence will literally be like "America's weird" while coming from a land where beans reside upon toast.
And they roll cheese wheels down a hill for sport
I was born in Colorado and grew up in San Diego CA. And you need to keep beans on toast outta your mouth. Lol you don't like it fine but it's great lol.
I was born in Colorado and grew up in San Diego CA. And you need to keep beans on toast outta your mouth. Lol you don't like it fine but it's great lol.
Sorry that was supposed to be much more fun and playful then it ended up sounding
Don’t come after our glorious beans on toast. We’ve gone to war for less. I’ll assume you’ve never experienced the joy of having beans on toasted sourdough bread, with a grating of mature cheddar over the top on a cold autumnal day so you’re forgiven
Hello, Mother Brown!👋 Your son, Lawrence is doing a marvelous job of talking about his adventures in America. You should be very proud of him. 😀
The racing piggies get oreos, from what I have heard from prior experience. On any given day, I could see a human racing for oreos. 🤣
The odd day. Between 3:30-5, I might be up for it 😅
I definitely would! (and I probably couldn't resist a little cheating if necessary.)
In Wisconsin the pigs also get an oreo cookie for winning the race :)
@@cherispitzer7115 that's so Wisconsin, it's almost Canadian! 🙂
@RogerWilco99 I'm sure you're probably right. I had an uncle who raised them. It would never have occurred to him to feed them people food (he was a contemporary of my father's, who was born and raised during the depression).
Still laughing, "not 50% on zero, that would be zero." I tipped 50% on a floor installation that I thought went really well. Just kitchen and bedroom, linoleum and carpet, and they did the job so fast, and in my opinion it was so cheap, I gave them ....a few hundred Euros more. My husband will never understand why I did that. I was new here. I wanted to pay what I thought was appropriate. Sometimes you just feel the need to really reward someone, you get that.
I grew up in a very rural area in FL. Every year we had an event called the Ham Jam, which was a giant party (almost like a fair) and bar-b-que contest. One of the events was always pig racing, but the pigs being raced were pot belly pigs and they did absolutely nothing fast. They sort of meandered around the track, rooting here and there, to the raucous cries of the audience on the sidelines. I used to love going to the Ham Jam 😂.
And the looser was star of the barbeque.
Pot bellied pigs are pets and domestic animals. Very unusual to eat one. Very.
The pigs were just having fun. Some pigs are trained to run in pig races and betting, along with prize money, does occur.
@@brianmccarthy5557 I believe Mark Hunter was just being facetious
@@brianmccarthy5557 I believe that in Asia, they're just common farm animals, and sources of meat, which is said to be quite tasty.
...and then, plenty of fresh barbecue! Yum!
My wife and I used to go to the annual Metropolis Superman Celebration every year (Before the recent insanity in the world). If you showed up dressed as Zod during the Celebration, you'd be well received and invited to a bunch of room parties and costume photo shoots. You do that any other time of the year, you'd see a much of locals take a deep breath, roll their eyes, and then affect a placating, welcoming smile.
Thats what I said, man I love going to it
I'm from a small town in Pennsylvania that used to have bed races during the yearly fair. The beds were on wheels, and 4 people pushed with one on the bed basically cheering them to the finish line. There was usually alcohol involved lol.
"There was usually alcohol involved" explains a lot about this country.
They have bed races annually in Louisville during Derby.
Where i grew up in rural Missouri, there's a small town community picnic involving an outhouse race. Sounds similar to your bed race. I'm guessing the costumes are hilarious?!
Was that Bedford? I'm from Altoona, and I remember seeing something about them on the local news. The Bedford Bed Races.
@@mournblade1066 no, it was Girard, a small town in the northwest corner outside of Erie.
When I was younger, I got to go to Mammoth Cave National Park to take one tour or another. This is a spectacular place and worth mentioning, IMO. There was the 4-hr All-Day Tour, and the 6-hr Wild Cave Tour.
First, Mammoth Cave is gargantuan, and it crosses a number of states underground. It links to a number of other caves that offer tours as well.
It is a limestone cave with Karst topography, which means that it was carved out by rivers and underground water dissolving the limestone. There is a river that does flow underground there at one point: the Green River. We wore a hard hat with a lamp, and I bumped my head on the low ceiling several times going in. At one point, over a fairly steep drop, we walked on a shelf over it which split so you have to have a foot on either side of the split as you walked. We slogged through the Green River, and I fell on my butt and covered myself in silt. I crawled army style through a passage so low I couldn't bring my legs up to push myself along. I could only pull myself along, arm by arm. I'm not claustrophobic, but that very low passage almost gave me a panic attack. (I recovered quickly.)
At the end of the Wild Cave Tour, we overlapped with another tour there and we saw what is called "Frozen Niagara."
But it's not a waterfall. It is a complex collection of mineral stalactites and stalagmites that have strikingly beautiful colors and which in itself does look like a frozen waterfall. It's beautiful.
Spelunking is one spectacular thing to do in America, and Mammoth Cave is the largest cave system in the US. Worth checking out.
Oh yeah. On the All-Day Tour, halfway through you are deep underground, and there is an area they put tables in called the Snowball Dining Room. Here you get a box lunch.
If you need to go to the restroom, you have to go behind a giant rock. The first rock is for men, the second is for women. When I ventured back there, I was quite relieved there was up-to-date plumbing and modern bathrooms behind the rocks. But it's a fun joke!
I've been there several times and it really is quite something. I'd advise anyone going, to take a jacket or sweatshirt because it's very cool in the caves. It was always very unnerving when the guides turned off their lights due to the suddenness of pitch black and the feeling of being so far underground.
Yes. Mammoth Cave is a constant 58°F, so a nice, insulated coat is advised.
Ok, I've been binge watching this content and can't get enough 🤣🤣
And I'm an American too. The silliness cracks me up, lots of puns and jokes. This guy should do voice over work imo!
Glad you tipped the kid.Been in that kind of situation and people blame the lowest people,never the store managers.
Yup. Customer service can be a complete nightmare!!! People have no empathy!
It really sounds like he needed to hear a kind word. My heart goes out to him, especially for trying to work though the situation.
Lawrence, I once drove a Brit who arrived at O'Hare for his first visit to the USA down through NW Indiana past those same billboards. He was shocked to say the least.
Lol, shocked enough to say "well, no sh#$"?🤣🤣
I wonder what he would have thought about the Cannabis billboards they have in states were it is legal.
The ones by O'Hare are mostly for hair loss treatments.
It seems there are fewer billboards in Texas than in the 70’s
@@ronjohnson5070 they are slowly disappearing. Locally, I used to laugh at one in a town half an hour north of me. There's an avenue running through that has a speed max of 45mph, gets a lit of traffic for that reason, people can "bypass" the town, where speed limit is 25mph.
There was a billboard that advertised "Swords! Daggers! Knives! Incense..." 😆
In Oregon we banned billboards. Now the state has small traffic-like signs, with icons for services at exits of highways. The vendor pays for their icon/logo to be on it. I think some towns allow billboards, but i see very few, since I was an adult.
Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing any when I was growing up. Miss living there
When did they get banned? I’m from there and go back to visit often. Pretty sure I’ve seen them. 🤔
@@jodimurphy8440 like I said, some towns allow billboards. You won't see them along highways. Some personal homes may have a small personal sign of somekind, but not commercial. Its been that way a long time. I live in Willamette Valley.
I-84 through Ontario definitely has them. You can see them from the freeway for sure.
Vermont, where I grew up, also banned billboards on highways. They would interrupt the view of the natural beauty of the state, especially in the fall. 🍁🍂
2:32 "When we're driving through Gary"
You, Laurence... you are a brave, brave man. Foolhardy, perhaps, but brave nonetheless.
As a native of Metropolis, Illinois, let me give some backstory on the Superman issue. To understand how it came to be, you need to look at the geography. Metropolis is on the banks of the Ohio River, about 40 miles or so upstream from where the Ohio and the Mississippi merge (at Cairo, IL). Fort Massac, located adjacent to the town and on a bluff overlooking the river was established back in the days of George Rogers Clark. Given that rivers were the highways and freight lines of the day, it was on the assumption that the proximity to the junction of those two major rivers would lead to growth for the town, becoming a metropolis eventually. So, that's what they named it. However, they were wrong, Metropolis stagnated at around 6-7000 people and, instead, a city across the river in Kentucky grew into the 40K range. That would be Paducah, KY (also, my actual birthplace).
Going back to the geography, we need to look at the highways, and imagine how things were BEFORE the interstate highway system was completed. You should be able to note that IL Hwy 45 passes directly through Metropolis and continues over to Brookport, IL, to use the Irvin Cobb Bridge to cross over to Paducah. Step back, so to speak, and you'll see that there only a handful of bridges across those rivers (without the Interstates). So, traffic from the St. Louis area (or beyond) travelling toward Nashville (or beyond) would likely be following Hwy 45, right through Metropolis. So, a constant flow of traffic meaning a constant flow of new money and maybe people.
Then, the Interstates. In this case, I-24 in particular. If you look at a map, you'll see that I-24 passes just outside Metropolis, slicing through the back of the Fort Massac State Park and across its own bridge to Paducah. The business people of Metropolis looked at this and realized, the traffic flow through town was going to go away, and they needed to give people a reason to stop at their little town of 6500 or so, rather than the city of 40K five minutes later.
Research discovered we were the only town bearing the name Metropolis (a name we'd had since before the author of Superman was born). And, as "luck" would have it, adjacent to the existing State Park on the highway out of town towards that new interstate was the County Fairgrounds. Even "better", on a road alongside the fairgrounds was a Quonset hut sort of building that housed a roller skating rink.
They contacted the Comics people and arranged a deal with them to "officially" declare our town the "Home of Superman". A ceremony was held and it was on national news.
They renamed the Courthouse Square to Superman Square, which is where the statue is now located. Signs featuring Superman appeared at the edges of town, in store windows, on the water tower, etc. They took the Fairgrounds with intentions of building Superman theme park. Not a bad idea, this was in the early 70's (my high school days) and theme parks were sprouting up everywhere at the time. They also took the skating rink to be a Superman Museum. And, put pictures of Superman's upper body with a hand out as if to say "stop", on the top of the Stop signs around town. Renamed the town's newspaper from the Metropolis News to the Metropolis Planet. Couldn't call it the Daily Planet, unless they wanted to repeat content or reduce size down to a page or two. The News was a very thin weekly paper. The name change didn't change that.
However, the pictures on the stop signs disappeared with the first weeks (to reappear in various teens bedrooms, etc). The fairgrounds had the grandstands torn down and the lot cleared, but the theme park never went anywhere. The property sat with a big For Sale sign for years and has now been incorporated into the State Park next door. The museum was a bust because they had nobody with any real collections or the knowledge to properly stock and run it. Basically, aside from name changes nothing else worked. Somebody would usually play Superman in parades.
That Superman statue isn't the first one there, either. If you thought it's weird now, the original statue had an out of proportion head and was an embarrassment. I missed a lot of that (joined the Navy in 76 and left town), but I remember hearing from family about how bad it was. So, what you see now is the replacement.
The museum that exists now has no connection to the original feeble try. As I understand, a true collector moved to town and took on the job of making a working museum. I can't remember for sure, but the building it is now in was originally either a furniture store or an appliance store, I think. I was never in the stores on that block. And, they've also now turned an annual Superman celebration into a "thing" that apparently draws people from around the country, if not the world.
The town's economy was originally factory and farm based. There was a plastics factory adjacent to the State Park, since closed and I believe recently torn down. Once upon a time, there was a button factory in the area somewhere. We used to pick up shells on the river bank with nice neat circles punched out of them. There's a chemical factory right outside town. I worked at a glove factory that's no longer there. My father worked at a coal fired power plant over at neighboring Joppa, where there was also Portland Cement and a few others.
The Superman thing was a stab at keeping a flow into town. Unfortunately, that never turned into anything all that big. So, now there's a casino down on the riverfront. Hated by most of the locals, largely because of the traffic it pulls into town. It was originally an actual riverboat that was semi-permanently moored there, with the hotel building built out onto it. Went there for a high school reunion in the early 2000's. You'd walk down a hallway in the hotel, and then find yourself standing on deck. They've since removed the boat, so it's just another casino now.
I will also point out that when you cross onto the river you are actually in Kentucky, technically. The state line is on the Illinios side of the river. As we used to say, go down to the river and get your feet wet, you're in KY. I don't know if that drove the location of the casino (having no idea of the difference in IL and KY casino laws).
Truthfully I don't think I've ever been to a closed casket funeral. As a kid I had lots & lots of old relatives. We seemed to be going to funerals every couple of month's. There was always a reception afterward. They were like a reunion. Everyone had a favorite story to tell about the deceased. It was a celebration of life.
You would have loved the old Burma Shave signs along the roads. I too am in my 70' s. Life was really grand back then!!
This made me smile because I have been through Metropolis. The United States is full of fun stuff.
I have to thank you, I busted out in a full belly laugh about the funeral scene. I know that’s not a funny thing but your reaction to the open casket visitation and the having to wait on cars in a procession hit me as funny. Then the coyote got me. And your reference to cartoon chickens. I needed this laugh. I do wonder why he was in Chicago, but I’ve heard they’ve learned that trash has food in it. So they are coming into cities more since their forests are not in existence anymore.
One time while driving in Houston I saw a bulletproof vest on the side of the road, on fire. I don’t even want to know what happened!
Oh that's beautiful!
Well at least the bulletproof vest on fire wasn't IN the road.
Someone brought a flamethrower to a gun fight
I had the same experience at an IHOP, one wait person covering all the tables and no manager. I too stayed for my meal and gave a generous tip after not being charged for it. I would say we were at the same restaurant at the same time, but mine was in Denver CO about 5 years ago.
I live on a mountain at the southern most point of the Sierra Nevadas. I was drinking my morning coffee and walking my puppy in the back yard when 2 juvenile mountain lions came up the deer trail next to our property. They walked single file up the trail watching us. The one in the rear looked very frightened of us. The one in the front looked quite ready to attack us if necessary. They continued following the deer trail up the mountain. It was incredibly surreal. They were about 100 feet from us. My adrenaline was pumping but I knew what a rare thing we were experiencing. Very weird but very special.
I ABSOLUTELY love watching your videos!! Your humor and wit cracks me up every time!!
I didn’t see it myself, but in the craziness of 2020 a wallaby was spotted in my suburban Colorado neighborhood. Apparently it escaped from a sanctuary some 25 miles away, how it survived and made it so far was almost comical.
While I grew up with billboards and used them for reading practice as a young child on long boring road trips (I am part of the generation that grew up without handheld video devices or DVD players in the car and got carsick if I tried to read a book), I have seen one really weird one. We also have the accident lawyer signs, but there is one with a 3-D representation of a wrecked vehicle hanging out of it. Funeral practices always seem weird. I regret that not many people still pull aside for a funeral procession where I live. However, the first funeral I can remember attending took me aback when we went to the home of the family and proceeded to have basically a "party". People were sitting around eating fried chicken, potato salad, etc., while some of the men were sipping on beers. Meanwhile, the granddaughter was sitting on the couch weeping copiously. In the world of nature the most memorable, if not exactly weird, thing was seeing a bald eagle just sitting in a field that I pass by on my way to work and experiencing a moon set that was almost as brilliant as a sunset.
Depends on the funeral. My father knew that he was going to die, and specified that he did not want anyone to cry. He said he wanted his fellow firemen to have a beer party for him. So they did!! My mother rented the town hall and they had a double kegger
I am from the same generation. Every year when my family and I, well part of my family and I, drove up North in Michigan, we would look for certain billboards along the way. Some of them had rhymes on them. One in particular that sticks in my memory is "fatty, fatty, run for your life! here comes skinny with a butcher knife!!" I don't recall what product it was advertising
Learning to read via billboards works great until you get to the GA/FL state line on I-75 and your parents have to answer your questions about why all the girls are XXX on all the signs.
@@LindaC616 50s kid. Reminds me of the Burma Shave ads
Having a family get together after a death with food and drink is normal for many of us. I'm shocked when people don't.
Same thing happened to me with the funeral. From what I understand, the guy was usually quite scruffy because everyone who saw him said how well he had scrubbed up. It was very bizarre.
Open casket funerals are grotesque. They provide an added element of trauma and grief to people who really don't need anymore. There are far better ways to say goodbye.
@@RonSparks2112 Why do you fear and mock the dead? Wakes and visitations are normal for most Catholic cultures. If you're some kind of extreme Protestant or an atheist or whatever, don't try to impose your bizarre beliefs on us. Just go and hide from death, which I assume you rightfully fear given what may come after for you.
@@RonSparks2112 I mean, sure, if the body is messed up from an accident or disease.
This sounds more like a you issue.
I was driving through Illinois and stopped at the rest stop near Metropolis and saw a similar statue. So you don’t even have to go into town to see him, my kids loved it!
there is a small one there , the big one is in front of the Court house. They even have the Superman Festival every year
Laurence, you are truly hilarious. The last two videos I have laughed out loud.
Ohh yeah that one waiter situation reminds me of something similar. Not too long ago actually we where getting McD's late like from midnight to 3am(?) and there was only one teenager working that night! Drive thru only, but still. This one kid was taking orders, cooking, and giving them out all by himself! As u can imagine the line got uber backed up but mostly I just felt bad for him. Pretty sure he was kinda new to the job too
Some weird things? I was working in Lexington, MA and looked over from my desk to see a turkey standing right in front of the door. A random fox hanging out in a busy shopping area in a suburb of Austin, TX. In a previous comment, I mentioned wiener dog races. But the weirdest of all might be the inexplicable incapacity of people from Maryland to drive competently.
Virginia drivers are worse than MD drivers.
I don't know. Tidewater VA is pretty bad. Pokey Patty hogs left lane so you pass her on right, then someone tailgates you for going 5 miles *over* speed limit!
In Michigan we pull over and stop for funerals and ambulances and firetrucks. I live on the outskirts between the city of midland and the Village of Sanford. I see a lot of deer, a few turkeys and possum and more raccoons than I can shake a stick at lol. Usually I’m banging on my screen door and yelling at them to get off my porch 🤣. I’ve seen a couple of fox but only one coyote. I hear them a lot from the woods by my house though. If I hear them when I get home from work I scurry inside. I notice we have a lot fewer rabbits after they cycle through couple times a year 😢. I would rather listen to the owls calling or the birds and the spring peepers 🐸 😊
Spring peepers ate the best.
Lived in Morley, Michigan for a while. On my way home from Big Rapids, I pulled over for a funeral procession heading towards Big Rapids. People were passing me, blowing their horns and making rude gestures at me.
My ancestors were from your area - Hope and Edenville. I hope you didn’t suffer too much damage in the flood. It’s interesting that you have the same animals up there that I have seen in the Detroit suburb of Livonia.
Just a short distance from you in Clare, and I had a porcupine wander through my yard on his way to the lake, I presume. Maybe looking for a mate - hard to say. And we have deer in town all the time, including the one that decided to end it all by crashing into my car - again, right in town.
AN Ostrich on my street in Petawawa Ontario. (A local farmer raises them for the Feathers) A mother bear with her cub up tree in my yard sorting thru the Neighbour's trash..
Texas here. We have bears, cougars (the furry four legged ones), a black panther (here in my area of this state), deer, alligators, wild hogs, coyotes, a few wolves, bald eagles, hawks, huge honking owls ( ya definitely have to keep an eye on your smaller dogs and the cats), and snakes galore ( rattlesnake, copperheads, water mossacons, coral snakes, and those are the dangerous ones.) I probably left some out, but I live in North East Texas, so yeah.
As far as the coyote…there are tons of forest preserves around Chicago area.
I live in southern Illinois and have been to Metropolis several times over the last few years during the town's annual Superman Celebration. I'm certain that if you can do a reasonable impression of Terence Stamp's "Kneel before Zod!" line, you and your Zod costume would be welcome. You could even do a special one-off video covering the festivities.
Your old Franklin College mate checking in here, wonderful to see you doing so well and with this great channel. So proud of you Lozzy B (you probably don't remember calling yourself this!). Joel ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Coyotes are pretty much everywhere in North America. We shouldn’t be surprised to see them. However, we should still be alarmed, because they can be dangerous, especially to pets and children.
Saw pig racing in Nashville, TN. It waa an adorable show. The MC has a name for each piggy and the pigs are trained. They dove into a tub of water too. So cute!
I hope you get to enjoy Lincoln Park Zoo. It is a lovely day of walking and you are also only 3 hrs away from Battle Creek, Michigan's Bird Sanctuary. Beautiful variet of swans & in the bird rehabiltation area, recuperating birds of prey etc. I enjoy your channel!
I moved to UK from New England in 1998... I really enjoy your channel, thank you!
I went to college in western/rural Nebraska. At one point, I was driving, and saw something brown out of the corner of my eye, so I slammed on the brakes. I did so since a lot of animals, deer and such have light brown fur. As I looked around (it was night) I realized wait I saw. Apparently, I brake for tumbleweed.
Also Lawrence, you may add something new to the list, since next summer, there will be a NASCAR race in downtown Chicago.
Last year in the booming metropolis of Lebanon, Missouri, we had a brown bear walking down Jefferson Ave ( our main drag through town) during the early morning. We came to the conclusion that he was just window shopping before the rush hour.
In Hawaii on the public bus I once saw several ladies dressed in full on grass skirts, coconut bra, feathered head dress getting on the bus. I think it was a Tahitian dance group not really sure. It's expected to see this in Hawaii but not on the bus.
Lol, just off to work at the luau...
Matey you’re so funny, I love the humour right or wrong it’s great to watch intriguing and interesting not to mention informative to listen to.
That being said I think I’ll support you on patrion.
Look forward to hearing some good information on weirdness you don’t see till you hear it then you can see it sort of thing. Cheers 👍🐜🇬🇧
I have a coyote living at the end of my suburban street (a forested area not yet developed, outside of a major city). I once caught her shadowing me at dusk on a walk. Ergo, all of my pets are strictly indoors. I'm Canadian though not American, so we're automatically more... wild.
Regarding the waiter that was alone, I might have tried to help him myself. I have worked in a restaurant.
2:07 - I'm from Bloomington and feel very strongly that you are describing the city/college signs on the old 37 overpass north of town and then the weirdy-beardy church signs from the same stretch of old 37 before it hits that big hill and eventually splits into College/Walnut...
I’m a Southern California transplant to the Midwest. You have such humor about the things I find appalling about the Midwest. I live close to Naptown.
A friend and I were taking a trip in the mountains of North Carolina when we saw a woman walking past with her dog...Traffic had slowed down,and as we continued,we found out why. The woman's car was on fire.
We’ve have a bobcat that lives somewhere near our neighborhood. We also have a family of hawks that live in our cul-de-sac
One's nearness to Portland, Oregon is inversely proportional to one's ability to recognize weirdness. The closer you get, the less you know what weird is.
Where I live in San Antonio there a few roads that have small deer herds roaming around at dusk and night time. They stop at the side of the road and wait for cars to pass before crossing the road.
Weirder than a coyote in a big city is the fact that when a coyote wandered into Boston while I was there for college they had to release an official statement asking people to please not pet the coyote. 🤦🏼♀️
Who tries to pet a coyote?!?
My favorite billboard was one of those that's split in the middle to show 2 ads. The left side had a PSA with MARAJUANA in a huge font. The other side read "Buy fresh, buy local!" XD
That was great of you to still tip him ! Poor guy...it's a rough job even on a good day.
One of my favorites is the roadrunner, I could watch them all day.
Quite too many years ago I had my weirdest coyote-related incident. I was visiting one of the regional parks that wrap around the S.F. bay area like a badly fitted corset, and had just stepped out of the car to take in my first proper look at the place. This one was near enough to my then house in San Jose. I looked at the trailhead of my intended ramble, and gosh bewillies there was this coyote just standing there in the middle of the path. Naturely I did what any city boy does when confronted with actual wildlife. I froze on the spot, unintentially channelling the weird and unwarranted advice from Jurassic Park, that if you don't move their wacky eyeballs can't see you. This beast then casually turned around and sauntered off. My last impression of the coyote was the realisation that the animal was actually quite fat, so it had nowhere the physical effect of a diet limited to road runners, I supposed. Now comes the weird bit. The Instant the coyote left I chanced to look down at my feet, checking my shoes to ensure humorous fate didn't tie my shoe laces together or something, I noticed a piece of paper under my shoe. It turned out to be a ten dollar bill, which at that time was enough to put half a tank of gas in my car. Seeing that there were neither other bipeds or automobiles anywhere in sight I did what any red-blooded American would do. I picked it up and kept it. Thanks funny fate old chum. This never happened again, sad to say, since to repeat the incident to form today would require encountering both a c-note and a twenty under my shoe. Good luck getting that to happen short of being a mugger.
The coyote is the trickster; you were visited from the spirit world and given a gift. You will see him again.
I live in the city and we have always had coyotes. Once we had a whole pack running along side of our car driving through the neighborhood. Night-time calls and watching them soar over 6 ft fences were routine. Have to watch your pets.
I saw a guy chasing another guy with a pitchfork in Brooklyn New York.
Is it any wonder that Ripley's "Believe It or Not" got started in America?
The Chicago area has all sorts of what are called "Forest Preserves", or areas of original forest that were set aside to be used as parks and areas of refuge for city people to go to "get away". All sorts of animals, including deer, skunks, and now coyotes live there. When I lived there, I would occasionally encounter the deer and skunks when they would wander out for exploration.
I also live in Chicago, and am right up against a forest preserve. I've seen a number of coyotes here due to that proximity, though I did see one near Water Tower Place once too. And one in Lincoln Park.
Lawrence, some of these are Indiana specific. As a Hoosier, it really is a weird place for billboards. The best are the Jesus billboards followed immediately by adult store billboards in alternating fashion.
I think that I shall never see a billboard lovely as a tree. Perhaps, unless the billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all.-Ogden Nash. My experience from being stationed in the UK is that the Brits will race anything...
This gave me the chuckles. Thank you. I think I remember reading there's thousands of coyotes in Chicago alone. They've adapted well. Kind of like Corvus. I don't remember why it said, but I'm guessing due to their scavenger ability and wilyness. I had to, though I likely spelled it wrong. It's unfortunate that they're being driven out of their natural environments. It annoys me that we almost never refer to ourselves as "invasive", but I'm glad the Coyotes are using their cunning. Those poor guys always seem to be the ones caught between a rock and a hard place, or maybe I should have said "between fence slats". This was enjoyable.
Ah, I agree that many of our funeral practices are really strange. In the 70s, my elementary school was located near a funeral home. It was often at recess, we'd find ourselves stopping and standing at attention for a train of cars with their headlights on. "Police escort plus headlights equalled dead person so show respects by standing really still or get in trouble!" is the gist of what went through my head. The people in the cars tended to wave or smile at us as if in gratitude, which made us feel good about ourselves, and you can see the formed habit. Used to cars definitely pulled over and stopped. Even on the interstate. I don't see it to the same extent these days. Then again, I don't see funeral processions as often either. Location maybe, for surely there's not less. Now you've given me something I'm not really interested in but have to look up for curiosities sake. Enjoy your own chuckle! 🤪🦋
I think there are quite enough people attacking humanity for being successful without having to bust out the word invasive, but
Coyotes kill small pets, that’s one way they survive. I know from personal experience. Also IMO we don’t refer to ourselves as invasive because it’s not accurate. For some reason, the most spectacular species in the world, the human being, is set aside as if we were dropped from another planet entirely. We marvel at the beauty of the great cats, the dophins, etc...the beauty of the human being is just as breathtaking. Ultimately, given how developed we are, it’s a matter of being good caretakers, but the give and take of mother nature is never ending. I live in the country, when you’ve seen enough dead bodies, or parts of bodies, or aged deer bones, etc...or had to pull porcupine quills out of your dog’s face because one showed up in the yard, or clean off the stink of a skunk (YUCK), eh...the list goes on, but you get the point. I’m grateful to have what I have, and that includes the intellect a human being is born with, rather than being limited to animal instinct and low intelligence, living life in a tree where a bird of prey could come swooping down to eat me any moment.
I am late to the game… but want you to know I appreciate your channel. You are hilarious! All in a good way!
The one pig race I saw (at a County Fair) the pigs all got a full can of Coca-Cola and Oreo cookies. Pigs don’t eat hay. They eat “slop”, which is a bunch of vegetable scraps.
The first time I met my ILs from Hawaii when they were visiting northern Il they raced to the picture window and they were amazed and intently watching.. a squirrel. I had quite the laugh. They don’t have them so it was exciting. When I visit them my eyes are wide eyed at the flowers, ocean, waterfalls, mountains. Wide eyed for a squirrel or rabbit though?
I have a similar story to the iHop thing. I was at a Thai restaurant on a Saturday. There was only 1 waiter and it was a young man, place had a lot of customers and it looked like there was only 1 chef as well. I decided to give a generous tip and leave a review of the place, telling the owner to give the young man a day off.
Plenty of coyotes in suburban Chicago.
I live in Milwaukee. Quite a few years ago, my wife & I when out to one our county parks. This one is a man-made park sticking out into lake Michigan called veterans park. Now it's a nice little park with trees and a pond & picnic tables and parking area in the middle. As we were driving in, the park was full of people enjoying a beautiful summer day. Suddenly I see something moving fast through the crowd of people. Thousands of people and one deer 🦌 running, for what it believes, is it's life. How it got there in the middle of day is a big mystery. There is a bike trail near the park that runs along an old railroad track so that is a 'highway' for wild animals such as deer & coyotes, but like that old horror movie, they only come out at night.
Thanks for the laughs, Lawrence. Hilarious!
I have been to Metropolis,IL .So fun! Way south on the Illinois/Kentucky border. My husband is obsessed so we went.
I also had that issue at a restaurant that rhymed with "Sinternational Blouse of Drancakes. Wasn't fun.
I saw a billboard in El Paso, Texas that said "Too many baby mamas? Get a vasectomy! Call (number)"
It was a Urologist office 😆
In the 90s when I was high school, our school was surrounded by billboards (facing the school) of cigarette ads.
I live in East Texas and they would keep them at home in the casket for 3 or 4 days and you would go over there and have a great lunch or dinner so it's not unusual!
bless you for tipping so well for that waiter. I've been at IHOP a few times when there was one waiter and one cook.
The reason there's so many "Florida man" stories is because of their Sunshine Law; requiring proceedings of government agencies to be open or available to the public. Florida's law was signed in 1967.
If you want to get kind of a sense of what a funeral is like for a while in the US watch the music video for Ray Stevens sitting up with the Dead. It is a funny song/video.
I never knew Coyotes lived that far east or that far north. We had lots of Coyotes when I grew up in the desert in Socal.
Here in Texas, Alice (where I live) and Uvalde both have coyotes for school mascots.
That poor waiter....that makes me so sad :(
Find a park with a patch standing trees , at full dark shine a flashlight around you and count the eyes looking at you .
The weirdest American funeral practice that I know of is drive through viewing. It's not widely done, but it has been done for years in some places. You can just drive up to the window, give Uncle Harvey a wave and a toot on the horn (unless Bob's your uncle -- haha), then drive through your favorite fast food restaurant for a meal, and not get out of your car the whole time!
Many Coyotes have adapted to city life, they know where to find food, avoid traffic by reading the traffic lights, it's amazing how adaptable they are.
You should have referenced a road runner. You may have even seen one since they were reintroduced, albeit on a limited basis, by Chrysler corporation. They are what is called a muscle car, which I doubt they have in Britain.
Might be a topic worth a look for a future installment.
Blessings.
Wakes seem to be more of a mid-west/east coast thing where it’s more traditional. I’m from the west coast, but lived in Chicago and was surprised at the contrast (in general - not just related to death).
Here we might have a “viewing” at the funeral home - which is optional. On the odd occasion of an actual “Funeral,” it is either open or closed-casket. The majority of people are being cremated and only a “Memorial” is held.
I am originally from southern Illinois and have been to Metropolis several times. The Superman statue is only a little odd to see but that is his town.
As someone who has worked in many american restaurants sadly that type of understaffing and stress is a little too common
Balloon boy was practically in my home town, definitely my home state.
Billboards we don’t have ‘ quite’ so many here in Colorado. By I have seen billboards in Tennessee that are an an seemingly endless stream of THE SAME DAMN FIREWORKS ADVERTISEMENT every 300 or so feet ( 90ish meters ) for 3 BLEEEEPING!!!! Miles ( 5ish KM )
Sometime in the 70's, a student at Portland Prep who had an old hearse as his car got a bunch of other students together to form a "funeral" procession at lunch and just started driving. 2 motorcycle cops saw them and escorted them across the city until they realized they weren't going anywhere. At which point the students who couldn't drive away were thoroughly chewed out
by police trying not to laugh.
When I was in high school (fairly affluent suburb of a fairly large midwestern city) every year we had a fundraiser which consisted of a donkey basketball game. It was the senior class vs. staff/faculty wearing football helmets riding small asses which were shod with rubber pads so as not to damage the floor of the gymnasium. Hysterically funny.
We used to have donkey basket ball too! The teachers would ride them....hilariously funny! I thought it was a hillbilly thing and here you say it's in the Midwest! Nice!
@@Junkinsally the coveted position was the guy who had the broom and the shovel and cleaned up the inevitable "accidents", the biggest honors were bestowed upon him!
Here in the Northeast(or atleast New Hampshire), most of our billboards seem to be about businesses and cars, I don't think I remember ever seeing a billboard about religion other than at churches and other religious buildings.
I think you are from grimsby. Is that the home of Grimsby Town that won promotion in the Welcome to Wrexham finale?
Speaking of super heroes, if you hang around Kokomo Indiana long enough you are likely to see a gentleman jogging around town in a full Batman costume!
Drive down to Lincoln, Illinois (between Bloomington and Springfield) and see the granddaughter n elevator museum. At the Aurora, Illinois municipal airport there’s a museum of military aircraft. I think the United States has a museum/tourist attraction for anything you can think of.
Vermont, a small. state in this New England, banned billboards years ago.
I live in “The Hammer’s” hometown…. His billboards are everywhere. He is a slimmy huckster.
Most injury lawyers are. They are nothing by ambulance chasers.
Next year is the 17 year cicada hatch in the northern Illinois area. The noise is insane.
I was living in Chicago during one of those. You are right....the noise is horrible!
As a server and bartender, that works alone, in a 35 seat bar and grill, THANK YOU! Thank you for being kind to a young man trying hard to serve his customers, and tipping above and beyond. When the door opens and the place fills up in 5 minutes flat, I throw menus at everyone, let them know that I see them, and will be with them as quickly as I can. 80% of people see me running around and are incredibly understanding, but the other 20% get irate. It seems as though some people have an unearned sense of entitlement. They will wave their hands in the air, shout "WAITER", and try to get other customers riled up. Coincidentally, they are usually the last people to walk into the crowded restaurant, then expect me to drop it all to be at their beck and call. I try to finesse them back into a better mood and gently point out that I have a few tables ahead of them. I figure I have a 50/50 shot at winning them back over, and I usually can. BUT some people treat me so awfully that I'd prefer they go elsewhere. It's really a shame that so many people act that way, however, they are the exception, not the rule. Anyway, just came here to say my thanks for being a decent human in what was definitely a chaotic time.
as someone who has also worked in the resturant industry, i get where youre coming from. ive always thought that if one want to eat at any resturant, you have to work in one during dinner service for an hour or two. if people did that, theyd understand how hard everyone is working in front and back of the house to get food out in a timely manner, and patrons would be less jerks about it.
Absolutely the unsung heros of the food service industry! He 1) showed up. 2) Was actually trying to do his (and that of several others) job. Which is somewhat unusual these days, sad as it is.
I never tried table service. I have Cerebral Palsy, so nobody would have been pleased with the result, but yes. The dude was commendable for his work ethic. Blessings to him. He probably is self employed where he still may sometimes not get paid, bit has a better life.