Quick Takes

Local control

The owner of a Chinese clothing store in the heart of Beijing has had enough of one particular kind of customer: Chinese people. According to the state-run Beijing Youth Daily, a clothing shop on Albemarle Road in the city’s embassy district recently posted a sign informing customers, “Chinese not admitted, except for staff.” A store clerk interviewed by the paper complained that its Chinese clientele has a reputation for shoplifting, pickpocketing, and trying on clothes without making a purchase. The sign caused an uproar on the Chinese social media website Weibo, but a legal expert told the newspaper the store’s owner probably isn’t breaking the law because China has no anti-discrimination legislation.

Trash collectors

Some New Yorkers have a big appetite—and then there are the anthropods. A study published in the journal Global Change Biology has hailed New York City’s insect population as the unsung hero of the Big Apple’s garbage collection. The North Carolina State University research team led by Elsa Youngsteadt calculated that insects in one small portion of a Manhattan neighborhood could dispose of about 2,100 pounds of discarded junk food every year. To measure the insects’ appetite, researchers placed hot dogs, potato chips, and cookies in New York City parks and street medians and measured how fast they disappeared. “This isn’t just a silly fact,” Youngsteadt noted. “This highlights a very real service that these arthropods provide. They effectively dispose of our trash for us.”

Beaten by a stick

A pair of Houston teens attempting to steal a car on Nov. 30 found they needed help—from their victim. Police say the 15- and 17-year-old alleged carjackers attacked a first-year student at a local medical school as he drove toward a parking space at his apartment. The pair then took the man’s keys and attempted to steal his vehicle before being stymied by the car’s manual transmission. According to police, the teens then forced the victim at gunpoint to show them how to operate the clutch and manual shifter. But the quick lesson was insufficient, and the teens had to abandon the vehicle and flee on foot when police initiated a pursuit. Both suspects were arrested on aggravated robbery charges.

License to grow

For Paolo Quezada, a beard comes with strings attached. Officials at the Mormon-owned LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, Utah, granted Quezada permission to grow a beard in November, but only if he wore his “beard exemption card” on a lanyard around his neck at all times for anyone to see. Like many Mormon educational institutions, the LDS Business College prohibits beards. Quezada earned an exemption because an acting role he is preparing for requires him to portray a bearded character. According to his beard exemption, which expires at the end of the year, Quezada must compensate for his beard by wearing a dress shirt, tie, and slacks to class.

Slapped down

One thing’s now missing from the morning routine of many schoolchildren in Peterborough, Ontario: a high-five from a friendly crossing guard. Earlier this year, city officials informed the city’s crossing guards that they could no longer make any physical contact with students crossing streets. Officials specifically told Peterborough’s crossing guards, who used high-fives to exchange pleasantries with children quickly, to end the practice. City officials say the move was made to protect student safety. But on Nov. 28, a small group of families gathered at city hall to petition for a return to the normal, friendly morning routine.

Branching out

A Christmas tree could spark the next fight along the Korean Peninsula’s demilitarized zone. On Dec. 2, the South Korean defense agency gave a Christian ministry permission once again to erect a 30-foot Christmas tree–like structure near the nation’s border with North Korea. The ministry says it plans to deck the structure with lights and decorations that will be visible from the north. In past years, the structure has instigated strong reactions from North Korean leaders who, viewing the Christmas tree as Western propaganda, have promised to shell the structure with artillery fire.

A matter of taste

How valuable is Tetley’s official tea taste tester? The British tea manufacturer recently purchased an insurance policy on Sebastian Michaelis’ taste buds for more than $1.5 million. Tetley entrusts Michaelis to taste a variety of teas so that the company can produce a blend that remains consistent even as crops produce varying flavors. “Tea, like wine, will change depending on the amount of sunshine and rain it gets—so it’s always changing taste,” he told Sky News. “We know exactly how to blend it together so it tastes the same.”

Snow rookie

Baltimore Ravens rookie Timmy Jernigan had an unusual excuse for being late to a team meeting on Nov. 26. The 22-year-old native Floridian was playing in the snow—for the first time in his life. Having never seen snow in person before, Jernigan couldn’t resist putting off meeting to build a snowman on the Ravens practice field with a team employee. Ravens coach John Harbaugh seemed to take the tardiness in stride. “It’s all good, he had a fun time,” Harbaugh told The Baltimore Sun. “It was just fun watching him enjoy it. He was like a little kid.”

The best defense ...

A Georgia woman employed a well-timed vomit to escape a purse snatcher. On Nov. 29, a masked assailant struck the unnamed woman as she was walking to her car outside a mall in Athens, Ga. Then the thief shoved the woman against another car and attempted to steal her purse. During the struggle, the woman vomited on the thief, who abruptly gave up the fight and fled without the purse.