A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year -- Brought to You by Prozac
Call it a tree for what ails ya. It graces the counter of the Memorial Medical Group office in Long Beach and it’s festooned with tiny empty boxes. Boxes that held prescription drugs. There are even antidepressant containers, perhaps to cheer up Scrooge types.
And the decoration at the top? It’s a Viagra box. O, Christmas tree!
More cheer: Marty Rauch of West L.A. and Beverley Taub of Woodland Hills got a kick out of a multicultural holiday greeting printed in one market mailer (see accompanying).
Heavenly dividends: Noting the “life” and “thereafter” notations in a bank ad (see accompanying), Bill Scannell of Santa Ana observed that apparently you can take it with you (and earn extra interest, too).
Which reminds me: In Minnesota, Peter Burke of Hollywood saw a funeral home with an appropriate name (see photo).
Back to the world of high finance: A survey of Civic Center cafeterias by the L.A. Downtown News found that the Department of Water and Power’s eatery accepts cash only. “But,” a waitress told the newspaper, “we don’t require ID.”
Vacationer’s warning: Despite what the sign in Sedona, Ariz., may say, Vera McDaniel of Culver City recommends that you be careful where you take your camera (see photo).
There are 8 million stories in the semi-naked city: The locker room of my health club was largely deserted the other afternoon as I changed into my bathing suit. I was about to walk into the shower area when I heard a loud argument inside. It was one-sided, with a guy saying he didn’t have to take that kind of talk, etc. I admit I hesitated.
I’m practically blind without my glasses and I didn’t want to walk into the middle of a fistfight between some young guys and suffer collateral damage. Then, suddenly, there was silence. The dispute seemed to have ended without the second guy ever getting in a word.
As I tiptoed into the shower area, I found out why. The first disputant, wrapped only in a towel, had just set down his cell phone.
miscelLAny: The city of Paramount received a report that a car was sitting in the middle of the street. The owner explained that he had left it there so the street sweeper would have room to go around on both sides.
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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, ext. 77083; by fax at (213) 237-4712; by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012; and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.