Deadbeat Diners End Their Purloined Repast With Humdinger of a Chaser

What is it about the restaurant cuisine in Dana Point that has customers filling up, then fleeing without paying?

The Dana Point News said the latest “dine and dash” involved two blond men in their 30s who scooted out of a Denny’s and got away even though pursuing restaurant employees called down the street to an AM/PM store, whose workers joined the chase.

Earlier, the city’s Wind and Sea restaurant and Harpoon Henry’s were each victimized by two women traveling in a red sports car.

These sirloin purloiners were cagier, placing what appeared to be money into the folder that held their bill on each occasion. But instead of money, they left fake gift certificates.

The women were in their late 30s. “Kind of odd,” a Dana Point officer said. “Usually they [thieves of this type] are high school students.”

From food to beverages: If you’re trying to kick the soft-drink habit, you might take up the offer that Gwen Schlick of San Jacinto found (see accompanying). You won’t gain any weight staring at a picture.

This hurry-up society: Muriel Moster of L.A. saw an announcement about a hospital that doesn’t seem to have much time for some patients (see accompanying).

Unreal estate: John Schulte of Moorpark, who collects oddball newspaper items, sent along a property listing that must have appeared on Valentine’s Day (see accompanying).

Legal tangles: “When I was a young lawyer, a senior partner asked me to proofread a letter he had dictated to a client,” wrote Derek Hunt.

“Among other things, he had said, ‘You have a claim for quantum meruit’ [ the reasonable value of services]. The secretary had typed, ‘You have a claim for Quantum Markowitz.’

Quipped Hunt: “Markowitz decided not to press charges.”

Mondegreen of the Day: “As a child, I was certain the line from the song ‘Sunrise, Sunset’ was ‘Ceilings turn overnight to sunflowers,’ ” wrote Gloria L.K. Greengard, contributing today’s misinterpretation of lyrics. “I could picture all the big sunflowers that had grown overnight and covered the entire ceiling. The fact that it was actually ‘seedlings’ was much less interesting.”

Mondegreen Photo Bonus: Kathy Fischbeck of North Tustin snapped a household plaque at the home of her cousin, whose daughters, when they were growing up, “thought ‘rhododendron’ was ‘Road of Dendron.’ ”

miscelLAny: Sherine Smith of San Clemente received a notice informing her she was to report to jury duty May 10 -- in Oakland.

First the city steals a pro football team from Southern California. Now it’s going after our jurors?

Smith, who has never lived in Oakland, plans to notify the court of the mistake.

“They did give me a map so I could find my way,” she said. But it’s only a map of the Oakland area. The directions neglected to say, “First, fly to the airport,” she observed.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, 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.