All in the Family
BrewDog, a craft brewery based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was founded on the love of two things: a good pint and a good pooch. Recently, BrewDog’s founders became one of the world’s weird workplaces when it instituted an unusual employee perk—pawternity leave. Whenever one of the business’s 1,000 employees adopts a canine, they get a paid week off to spend with their fur baby. Sorry, cat lovers—only dog people qualify.
Look Who’s Coming to Dinner
In February, server Samia Lila was halfway through her shift at a restaurant in Bermagui, Australia, when she heard a ruckus. She rushed over—and found a two-metre-long goanna, a lizard with grey and green speckles, crossing the room. Lila, who was in Australia on a working holiday from France, was seemingly undaunted by the large but harmless reptile. She attempted to block the scaly visitor’s path with a chair, then grabbed its tail and dragged it outside. Her brave move earned her a thank-you meal with her bosses, and after a video of the incident went viral, she got a new nickname, too: Goanna Girl.
Pick your hemisphere, choose your species, and check out one of these 10 best places to see exotic animals.
I, Robot
If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a cyborg, perhaps you should consider working at Belgian digital marketing company NewFusion. In January, employees were offered a choice: they could receive an old-fashioned ID badge or have a microchip implanted between their thumb and index finger. Slightly larger than a grain of rice, the electronic identifier can be programmed to allow workers to unlock office doors and log on to company computers. Five staffers and the CEO opted in. Microchipping isn’t limited to Belgium—the trend extends to other weird workplaces too. A Czech non-profit, for example, implanted at least 30 people with similar devices, which allow them to make purchases using digital currency, among other things.
Outrageousness never takes a break. There are many more strange tales where these came from. Check out 3 Science Stories You Won’t Believe Are True.