Editorial: Casual Fridays 3/23

Aging Gracefully

Most 101-year-olds rarely leave their houses, much less the… Aging Gracefully

Most 101-year-olds rarely leave their houses, much less the ground, but that didn’t stop Mary Allen Hardison, an Ogden, Utah-based grandmother, from setting the Guinness World Record last September for “oldest female to paraglide tandem” (she was officially recognized this Tuesday). Contrary to initial reports, she wasn’t accompanied by a dog and a Boy Scout, and she didn’t land anywhere near Paradise Falls.

A Hard Thing to Swallow

Half a year after Hardison completed her age-defying flight, another record was set at Dulles International Airport, but this one garnered less fanfare. According to NBC4 Washington, U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested a Nigerian woman who allegedly ingested four pounds and 12 ounces worth of heroin pellets — the largest amount of the drug ever recovered from a human stomach. Although we’re impressed she even survived the trip, we wonder how much more contraband traffickers could have transported if they’d enlisted the help of hot dog eating champion Takeru Kobayashi.

Taking the Plunge

Disabilities can be constricting and even life-threatening, but don’t tell that to Christine Rougoor, a paraplegic who recently bungee jumped off a bridge in British Columbia, Canada. Although the feat was remarkable in itself, it also marked the first time someone pushed a wheelchair-bound woman off a sheer drop and didn’t face a lifetime in prison.

Juvenile Detention

Members of Massachusetts’ Orleans District Court probably felt a bit childish last week after Jacob Clark, a 9-year-old boy, notified them that he’d been summoned for jury duty. Then again, the summons may have been intentional: Unlike most adults, children can’t devise brilliant excuses for avoiding the courtroom.

Nuclear Exposure

Proving once and for all that no location is safe from terrorism, a nude and intoxicated Iowa man allegedly told police he’d been forced to handle a nuclear bomb at his house, according to the Iowa City Press Citizen (no weapon was actually found). When asked for his name, the man mumbled something authorities later deciphered as “Joe Dirt.”