Oh those Google Street Views – great when you need to see what a place looks like, but not so good if their cameras catch you in the act of a ‘crime.’ Just ask Donald Ryding of Leasowe, Merseyside, where his wife Julie caught him in the act of smoking after he promised to stop following a heart attack. The doctor told him that he had to give up smoking and starting eating a healthier diet – no more junk food, which was tough enough as he is a taxi driver by trade. He had told his wife that he had had his last cigarette, but she became suspicious after she cleaned his cab out for him and discovered, “I found loads of Hobnob biscuits in there. I confronted him and he denied it and he wouldn’t admit to it.” Which is always a man’s first reaction – denial – and our ultimate demise.
Mrs. Ryding, 50, heard about Google’s Street View and decided to check out her own address – as I am sure we all have in the past – and what did she discover…her husband Donald, 58, smoking in the driveway! He was at the wrong place at the wrong time when the Google camera went rolling by his house and caught him in the act. She said, “I couldn’t believe it – there was no denying it now we’d seen him smoking. When Street View first launched, they didn’t blur out faces, but there was no need to with him – he was covered by a cloud of smoke anyway.”
She says that he caused a lot of trouble that day and “He did sleep on the couch that night but he took it all in good spirits and we joke about it now at family parties.” They even dedicated the day as “Hobnob Day” and tease him about it whenever they get together with family or friends. Julie says, “He still smokes, but he has cut down. I’ve got an exercise regime walking three hours a day – we got three dogs to keep him moving. I’d like to lie and say he’s been healthy since, but he hasn’t quite – although he hasn’t eaten a Hobnob since.” So fellas, next time you lie to your wife or girlfriend about where you might have gone or what you might have been doing…try to remember if a Google car with a camera mounted on it drove by – it could mean the difference between a good night’s sleep or an evening on the sofa.