THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST

Kudos to the New York Daily News for delivering this shot! When I saw this photo in the paper this weekend, I was floored! When I worked and lived in New York City, Times Square is one place you stayed away from, unless you were headed in to see a play, because of all the tourists in the area. Times Square is the only place where you can be in a hurry, but you have to stop every ten paces because tourists in front of you keep stopping in mid-step to look at something. It gets a bit annoying especially when you are in a rush to get somewhere. That's why, for the most part, New Yorkers steer clear of Times Square, and that's what makes this photo so funny because anyone who's lived in New York City at one time or another has wanted to do this in Times Square. Many of us took the higher ground and just walked around the "posing for a photograph" tourist. Apparently, Deanne Ostbye could not take any more of this particular tourist, as the photo above captured her dislike for the stop-n-go tourist. The funny part is that Ostbye isn't even a New Yorker! She was in the city visiting, as well! I can't be the only one who finds comedy in this.

 Anyway, a 34-year-old Serbian tourist, Aleksandra Cvetkovic, was all smiles when she was about to take a picture in the middle of Times Square. Suddenly, another tourist, Ostbye, turned her joy to tears by knocking her down, a moment captured on film by Cvetkovic's friend, Ivana Lisavac-Bloom. The incident happened right at the corner of West 46th Street and Broadway at around 1:20 pm on Friday afternoon. The photo taken by Bloom is absolutely fantastic! Unfortunately for Cvetkovic, the end result was not so fantastic. 

The attack left Cvetkovic on the ground, bleeding from her head, a wound that would later require three stitches. She had only just arrived in NYC from Maryland, where she'd been staying with Lisavac-Bloom during her first trip to the United States. What a way to remember your first trip to the U.S., huh? The two women, Bloom and Cvetkovic were best friends when they lived in Serbia.

 Ostbye, the attacker, is 30-years-old and from Tacoma, Washington. She was charged with assault and reckless endangerment and was waiting to be arraigned on Saturday. No reason was given for the attack, but like I said before, if you've lived in New York before, you probably know why Cvetkovic was pushed. I can almost bet this is what happened. Ostbye was probably walking behind Cvetkovic for a few blocks and Cvetkovic, being the tourist that she was kept on stopping short to see some of the sights that she's never seen before. In one of those sudden stops, Ostbye wasn't paying attention and probably walked right into the back of Cvetkovic. Cvetkovic then probably proceeded to turn and give Ostbye a dirty look because of the little bump and probably talked trash to her friend in Serbian. Ostybye probably didn’t like the look or the trash talking, so she followed Cvetkovic for a few more blocks and waited for the right moment to attack. Now, I'm not sure how this really went down, but I can almost bet that I am damn close because I've been Ostbye before. I just never acted on it! That's why I love this story!

HUMAN CHEW TOY?

I can't seem to shake the images of this story, especially because this woman's husband decided to keep taking photos of his wife being attacked by these cheetahs rather than trying to save her. Then again, should he have put himself in harm’s way by trying to save her? I certainly wouldn't have been snapping photos while she was being attacked! What happened to chivalry? Is it really dead?

Here's what happened; A Scottish tourist, Violet D'Mello wanted to visit the Kragga Kamma Game Park, a South African game preserve, with her husband to celebrate her 60th birthday. She was posing for a photo with a pair of male cheetahs, Mark and Monty, whom park officials had said were not dangerous (Um, they're cheetahs! Not dangerous?), when one of the cats suddenly latched onto an 8-year-old girl's leg. Violet tried to be the hero and tried to stop the attack when the beasts suddenly turned on her.

 The next thing that Violet remembers was a complete nightmare! She remembered being on the floor, a cheetah right on top of her, scratching her badly, while she can feel the other one come up to her, one of the big cats grabbed her by the neck with their mouth. She then said that she just screamed and tried to get her hands around her neck to protect herself while she was being bitten all over her legs and down her side near her kidneys.

Her husband, Archibald D'Mello, said that he was so stunned by the attack that he didn't realize he kept taking photos, which by the way, surfaced online Friday morning. Is he serious? He was so stunned that he kept on snapping away? My first reaction would've been to jump in and save my wife, and not take pictures so that I can post them online! This guy sounds like a moron!

Violet said that she thought playing dead might fool the animals, as the blood trickled down from the back of her head. Finally, after about three minutes, a park guide beat the animals back with a stick. Wait a minute? Why did it take three minutes? They should've jumped in right away the minute the one cat attacked!

Violet was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for wounds on her head and face, including a slash would just inches from her right eye, as well as gashes to her stomach and legs. Violet's husband was said to be angry with park officials who told the couple that the animals were safe to pet.

According to Archibald, the park said that they didn't know what had caused the cheetahs to attack, but they shouldn't let tourists in unless they're sure it's safe! The park manager said that the cheetahs never attacked anyone before. Like I said before, they're cheetahs! They are wild animals that aren't domesticated! Why would you think that you can pet any of them? I have to say, there are stupid people in this world, but now it seems there are people who are more stupid than the stupid ones!