01 August 2006

Beyond calculation?

From Associated Press:

WESTLAKE, Ohio (AP) -- A bar waitress checking to see if a customer was legally old enough to drink looked down to see a familiar photo.

It was her own.

The 22-year-old waitress, whose name was not released, called police last week and said she had been handed her own stolen driver's license by a woman trying to prove she was 21.

The woman, who became suspicious of the delay as the waitress went to call police, fled the Moosehead Saloon, but her companion provided her name.

Maria Bergan, 23, of Lakewood, was charged Sunday night with identity theft and receiving stolen property. She was arrested at her home in suburban Cleveland.

The waitress said she had lost her wallet July 9 at a bar in Lakewood.

"The odds of this waitress recovering her own license defy calculation," police Capt. Guy Turner said Monday.


No, sir. It actually doesn't defy calculation. There are only around 5 billion human being on this planet, so the odds are at most 1:5 billion. However, the likelihood of the woman using the driver license in bars outside the US is probably zero, so the odds improve to 1:220 million. And so on. Beyond belief maybe, but beyond calculation? Come on, Captain!

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