Whale of a Tale

Whale of a Tale

South African dive tour operator Rainer Schimpf recalled nearly being swallowed by a whale after he was mistakenly swept into its jaws during a sardine feeding frenzy last month. The 51-year-old was snorkeling near Port Elizabeth Harbour when a series of photos captured him being sucked headfirst into a Bryde’s whale’s mouth. Fortunately, almost as soon as the unfortunate gulp began, Schimpf said, the whale released its jaw, allowing him to slip free to the surface.

A man had been treated for a long time to eliminate his belief that he had a horse inside him. After years of therapy, the only option left was to have an “operation” to remove the horse. So, they took the man to the hospital and put him under. When he awoke the doctor was all smiles and said, “You don’t have to worry anymore” and showed the man a picture of the horse they had just taken out of him. The man was in shock and protested, “Doc you screwed up, that horse is an appaloosa, I swallowed a white horse.”

My husband and I had just finished putting our four young ones into bed one evening when we heard sobbing coming from the three-year-old Eric’s room. Rushing to his side, he found him crying hysterically. He had accidentally swallowed a penny he was sure he was going to die. No amount of talking to change his mind. Desperate to calm him, my husband palmed a penny he happened to have in his pocket and pretended to pull it from Eric’s year. Eric was delighted in a flash he snatched the penny for my husband’s hand, swallowed it and demanded cheerfully, “Do it again, Dad.”

Why is it that people are so delighted and amazed when they see a whale leap from the ocean and crash back into the water, but I do one belly flop in the pool and suddenly I’m a jerk?