Man sues strip club for getting whacked in the face with a boot

by Jamie Rhein on

What is it about Ohio? During Jay Leno’s monologue last night, he quipped about a man who is suing a strip club in Akron for getting hit in the face with a stripper’s boot when it flew off her foot during a high kick.

That’s more weird than the story I heard on Saturday Night Live last September about Sarah Palin’s face being mowed into a corn maze in northern Ohio.

Here’s what happened in Akron, according to this report on Ohio.com. When the man’s cousin from out of town came for a visit, the bright idea of heading to a strip club for a good time came up. So off they went, perching themselves on chairs close to the stage.

Unfortunately, when “Tiara” did her high kick, her boot flew off, smacking Yusuf Evans in the nose, bending it a manner that it shouldn’t have been bent. Because the boot was a platform-style boot, it did extra damage. Now Evans says he has a hard time breathing out of one nostril. It gets clogged, you see. He’s asking for more than $25,000 compensation for his woes.

To avoid getting hit in the face with a stripper’s boot, here are three suggestions for what to see in Akron if one has an out of town guest. You can see a stripper club anywhere, but these three places are one-of-a-kind.

  • At Harry London Quality Chocolates you can tour the factory and sample chocolates. That might satisfy another type of craving since there are 500 different varieties.
  • Learn about another type of rubber at the Goodyear World of Rubber Museum. Akron is the “Rubber Capital of the World,” after all.
  • Dr. Bob’s Home–Dr. Bob Smith founded Alcoholic’s Anonymous. His home is now a museum. Some people who go here say they feel calm.

Church of the Nativity and Bethlehem Memories

by Jamie Rhein on

It’s only a few days after Christmas and people are asking, “How were the holidays?” as if once the 25th passes there’s no more need for cheer bearing gatherings or reasons to feel merry and bright. I’m still resonating.

When I read Jamil Hamid’s essay about the real Bethlehem and what Christmas used to be like there when he was a child, I felt the same wistfulness about world peace that Hamid, a Muslim, expresses. He mentions the Church of the Nativity, thought to be where Jesus was born. It has a fascinating history and one that continues to transform with Bethlehem’s changing cultural make-up.

His essay also reminded me of my own Bethlehem feelings that I experienced one Christmas Eve in The Gambia. I also thought about the Ohio connection to The Church of the Nativity. (When you live in Ohio long enough, the connections to other places are amazing. I can come up with about anything, however, I can assure you this is an honest to goodness connection.)

This past October, I headed to the Bethlehem Cave and Nativity Museum outside Akron to interview the woman who gives tours and take photos for an article I was writing on nativities across Ohio. The cave and museum are housed in the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Parish, a Catholic Church that picked up on the nativity theme and ran with it. The cave, built in a room downstairs is patterned after the one in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Akron’s replica was designed by the church’s priest based on sketches he made when he used to take tours to the real Bethlehem Cave. He is an expert on the church’s history but does not take tour groups there anymore because ihe believes it has become too dangerous. His church, though, is devoted to the place. Throughout the rest of the church in Akron there are references to the church in Bethlehem.

Along with the cave, the church has a nativity set collection filled with nativities from all over the world. If you ever want a good tiding fix, head here. You can find out a lot about the church in Bethlehem that Hamid writes about. You can also see the star at the bottom of the alter.

Portugal, Alaska, Prague and Akron

by Jamie Rhein on

Three of these places have something in common and one does not. I’ve just noticed that two start with P and two start with A, but that has nothing to do with this game. Everyone is going on a major trip but me. That, of course, is a gross exaggeration, but consider this. My father is winging his way to the Czech Republic with a stop in Lyon, France as part of his journey. My mother and my brother also left today. They’re in Seattle awaiting to embark on my mother’s dream trip–a cruise to Alaska. A close friend of mine from college left today for eight days in Portugal. (She left her two children with her husband for her jaunt away.) What does Akron have to do with anything? I’m heading there on Sunday. Actually, I’m going to Stow which is next door. My excitement might come from a stop at Grandpa’s Cheese Barn near the Ashland exit off of I-71. Wheee!!! Actually, the cheese there does ratchet up my excitement quotient.

There is nothing wrong with being closer to home. A good friend of ours who lives in Madrid, Iowa just flew in today on American AIrlines. The plane was early and my husband didn’t even have to pay for parking since he was at the airport for less than 10 minutes. This visit is a chance to show our friend, who has never been to Ohio, some of our favorite Columbus hotspots before my husband and he head to Cleveland for an Indians baseball game and a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sunday is the meet up in Stow for a family picnic gathering. These gatherings are one of the reasons why we are living in the U.S. right now. Still, when I am grazing the samples at the cheese barn, I’ll think of those people I love who are on their mega trips having those adventures they’ve dreamed about.

By the way, the friend who is visiting is the one who took us on the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad mentioned in the fall foliage leaf peeping train post.