Please bless these overly revealing orange shorts, and all who wear them while serving me cheese fries.
The head Catholic priest for the Greater Waco, Texas, area, Monsignor Isidore Rozycki, plans to bless a new Hooters restaurant in a private opening ceremony, according to The Waco Tribune-Herald.
"Blessings are part of the Catholic tradition," Rozycki, the pastor of St. Martin's Church in Tours, told the paper. "You bless the building so it will be a safe haven, so that the families that enter will be blessed, so the employees will be blessed as they support their families."
The public can bask in the Hooters' divinity beginning Tuesday, as the chain's newest location officially opens — since they won't be able to attend the actual blessing.
A man of the cloth blessing an establishment best known for waitresses in short shorts may draw the ire of many local religious leaders, Rozycki admitted, adding that he knows many other residents will find the move bizarre as well.
This fall, some 60 ministers signed a letter expressing disapproval of the restaurant — saying they oppose Hooters because of the sexual innuendo used in ads and the exploitation of female employees.
"I respect [the ministers'] opinion, but I think it's the way and the attitude with which you approach it," Rozycki told The Tribune-Herald. "I look it as a very fun place. It was a place of laughter. You forget about the tensions and stress of daily life and get an opportunity to laugh with friends. And it's great food."
Rozycki, 63, emphasized that giving his blessing is a good way to reach out to his community — pointing to the story of Jesus eating with a tax collector, even though at the time they were thought of as the some of the worst sinners.
Blessing Hooters isn't any different, Rozycki said.
"God's image is in all of these folks," Rozycki told The Tribune-Herald.
Rozycki also said Hooters doesn't deserve its bad rap: Recounting two enjoyable dining experiences at a Dallas-area Hooters.
Without doubt, lustful sinners who head to Hooters will find what they're looking for, Rozycki said, adding that that's true no matter where they go — especially at the local beach or public swimming pool.
— Thanks to Out There reader David B.
Lassie: Not Just for Saving Timmy From the Well Anymore
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — In a case of life imitating fiction, a dog named Lassie apparently helped rescue its injured owner after he fell from a horse.
George Crowther, a 90-year-old farmer from Queensland state, broke his hip and pelvis when he was pitched from a bucking horse and his foot became caught in the reins, his son Austin told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Crowther's dog, Lassie, came to the rescue, snuggling in next to Crowther to keep him warm.
When darkness fell, Crowther's wife came searching in the fields with a flashlight, but couldn't hear the man's feeble cries. She called for the dog and Lassie approached, whimpering.
"She said, 'Where's George?"' Austin Crowther said. The dog then led her to the paddock where Crowther lay cold and injured.
Crowther was recovering Tuesday after having 37 screws and two metal plates inserted into his pelvis and hip.
"He named her properly," Austin Crowther said of his father's four-legged friend.
Is There a Doctor in the House?
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A guest at a party who collapsed from cardiac arrest was in luck: The ballroom was packed with cardiologists attending an American Heart Association fundraiser.
"If you have to go down, that was the place, I guess," said Dr. Richard Westerman, a cardiologist who helped save the man.
The unidentified patient suddenly slumped over during Saturday night's seventh annual "Heart Ball," witnesses said.
"It looked like he was a goner," said Santa Barbara City Councilman Brian Barnwell, who was among the 300 people attending the $250-a-plate black tie event.
Several doctors sprang into action and revived the man by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Paramedics took him to a hospital and the patient has recovered, Westerman said Monday.
"He was fine," Westerman said. "He was awake. He had a pulse. He was talking."
— Thanks to Out There readers Susan A. and Nate P.
Judge Not, Lettuce You Be Judged
EASTON, Pa. (AP) — A woman fined $173.50 for throwing salad greens out of her car says lettuce not be too quick to judge her.
Dawn Higgins, 47, was cited Oct. 18 while parked outside a Wal-Mart in Lower Nazareth Township in eastern Pennsylvania.
"Lettuce comes from the ground, therefore it can go back into the ground," she said. "It's biodegradable. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong."
Higgins said she took her daughters and a friend to the store, and they stopped at a McDonald's along the way. She said she pulled into a parking space to finish her meal but decided not to eat the half-dozen or so leaves atop her salad.
After failing to appear in court Dec. 22, Higgins discovered she had been convicted in absentia and owed the state $173.50. She has appealed to Northampton County Court, where she said she will call her children and their friend as witnesses.
She also plans to bring along a salad to show leaves to the judge.
It's OK to Run From the Law
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A judge has thrown out a Bismarck drunken driving case because the driver did not have the option of turning around at a checkpoint.
Brett Ehli was arrested in September during a checkpoint run by the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Ehli was charged with drunken driving and possession of contraband.
Drivers are pulled over at a checkpoint — and Judge Burt Riskedahl said the patrol did not run the operation correctly.
A North Dakota Supreme Court ruling says checkpoints have to be set up to let drivers avoid getting stopped without violating traffic laws.
In Ehli's case, the judge said the only way he could avoid getting stopped was to break another traffic law.
Highway Patrol Captain Mark Bethke said the ruling will change how drunken-driving checkpoints are run.
— Thanks to Out There reader Bill P.
Talk About Eat and Run!
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — An airline passenger bit a fellow traveler Monday, then jumped out of a jetliner as it was moving to take off, authorities said. He was later subdued with a stun gun.
The man was taken to a hospital from the Fort Lauderdale airport, the Broward County sheriff's office said. It was unclear whether he was injured. The other passenger suffered minor injuries from the bite.
The Continental Airlines flight had been delayed for about 30 minutes, and as the Boeing 737 began to taxi, the man started yelling to get off, the sheriff's office said.
He ran to the front of the plane and banged on windows and the cockpit door, authorities said. As passengers and crew members tried to restrain him, he bit a passenger.
When the pilot depressurized the cabin, the man opened a door, jumped to the tarmac and ran toward the terminal. Deputies said they zapped him with a stun gun after he resisted arrest.
Troy Rigby, 28, will be charged with criminal mischief, criminal trespass, battery, resisting arrest with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer, in addition to an outstanding warrant for marijuana possession, the sheriff's office said.
The plane, set to fly from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Newark, N.J., was carrying 116 passengers and five crew members. It was rescheduled for later Monday, a Continental spokesman said.
Must Be My Lucky Week
BERWICK, Pa. (AP) — Last week was a momentous one for a Pennsylvania man.
On Tuesday, John Thomas won the lottery. On Friday, he got married.
He said the one had nothing to do with the other.
Thomas, who's 68, had asked 59-year-old Sandy Weaver to marry him back in July. That was long before he bought the lucky ticket that won him $77,777.
Thomas said he'll pay off his new wife's car, buy a motor home for camping, and save the rest.
It's the third marriage for both and they're hoping that'll be a charm.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Andrew Hard.
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