During a company's annual family trip to a crocodile farm in Thailand, the eccentric boss dares any of his employees to jump into the crocodile-infested pond and swim to the shore.

An old man lay awkwardly sprawled across three entire seats in the movie theater. When the usher came by and noticed this, he whispered to the old man, "Sorry sir, but you're only allowed one seat."

My father died while I was roaming through Northern Italy. He was 52. He passed away peacefully in his sleep in his home in Florida. I found out about it at the American Express office in Istanbul three weeks later when I opened a letter my brother sent me. This was 1970. There were no computers, no smartphones, no Skype. …