Reader Digest Version Global
Homepage >

Dumb Human Behavior to Avoid

Nothing bucks up our spirits more than knowing there are people dumber than we are. Except maybe knowing there are lots of them.

from Reader's Digest Magazine | June/July 2011

DUMB CRIMINALS, PART 1
Dude, Where’s My Getaway Car?

An Aiken, South Carolina, man robbed a clerk at a convenience store, then jumped into his getaway vehicle and took off. Police had little trouble catching up with him a short distance away. He was driving a Craftsman riding lawn mower. Source: aikenstandard.com

Third Time’s a Bust

The PNC Bank in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was allegedly robbed twice by the same man. The suspect was finally nabbed when he returned a third time to check his account balance. Source: (Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania) Patriot-News

Anyone Got Change for an $80 Bill?

Found in Phoenix: The greediest bank robber ever! During a stickup, he told the teller to hand over “all the twenties, forties, and sixties.” Source: times-herald.com

Pickup or Delivery?

A Connecticut bank received a strange phone call. It was from a pair of would-be robbers requesting that the bank prepare a bag of money for them to pick up a few minutes later. When they arrived, the men found the police waiting instead. Source: Associated Press
The Back-to-Jail Special

Two men were arrested for shoplifting at a back-to-school event at an office supply store. Their careful planning was thwarted by one small detail: It was the annual “Shop with a Cop” day, when about 60 police officers show up to help children pick out school supplies. Source: oregonlive.com

Next: DUMB IN SPORTS

1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7 |8 |9

Your Comments

  • Raks

    (:
     

  • Orlinsky

    Locating a bike/walking path in massasauga rattlesnake habitat is not as dumb as you make it sound. The  Eastern massasauga rattlesnake is on the state endangered list According to the U.S.Fish & wildlife service, “The
    massasauga is a secretive, docile snake that strikes humans only when
    it feels threatened or cornered. A massasauga will rely on its camouflage
    coloration to hide or will try to escape rather than strike a person.
    Many people who visit parks with massasaugas never see these shy creatures
    and may have walked by one with out noticing it.” Refer tohttp://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/reptiles/conserve.html

  • Orlinsky

    Locating a bike/walking path in massasauga rattlesnake habitat is not as dumb as you make it sound. The  Eastern massasauga rattlesnake is on the state endangered list According to the U.S.Fish & wildlife service, “The
    massasauga is a secretive, docile snake that strikes humans only when
    it feels threatened or cornered. A massasauga will rely on its camouflage
    coloration to hide or will try to escape rather than strike a person.
    Many people who visit parks with massasaugas never see these shy creatures
    and may have walked by one with out noticing it.” Refer tohttp://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/reptiles/conserve.html

  • Alan

    no, fuzzy-wuzzy wasn’t marxist, but this gets my vote for the dumbest government stunt. only in texas, friends, only in texas.

  • Alan

    no, fuzzy-wuzzy wasn’t marxist, but this gets my vote for the dumbest government stunt. only in texas, friends, only in texas.

  • MyComment

    There may be reasons to forego building a $1.2 million dollar trail in tough economic times.The presence of a potentially dangerous snake is not one of them. If that were the case, we wouldn’t have very many hiking trails in the US. Most of the 48 contiguous states are home to at least one species of venomous snake. Many have several. Even places without the snakes may have other dangerous creatures present.
    Are we all supposed to just sit at home and watch TV all day long?Oh, and as rattlesnakes go, the massasauga isn’t among the more dangerous species. They are smaller than most, and have a lower venom yield. 

    You’d be in much more danger hiking trails where timber, prairie, diamondback or sidewinder rattlesnakes live. But people do it all the time.

    • Anonymous

      STOP BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE

    • Anonymous

      STOP BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE

  • Fred

    I loved the one about the theives who confused robbing a bank with ordering a pizza.  You don’t get faster service by calling in your order ahead.  That is really dumb. 

    • Ralphy77

       What is even dumber is that you can spell “thieves.”

  • Scott Long

    you can’t fix stupid

  • DJMarkski

    You forgot reading Reader’s Digest.