Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: Sen. Mitt Romney taking a dig at Trump amid his hush money trial, a shopper recounting how she was followed into a Costco parking lot, a nightmare of a scam story, and a customer walking into a restaurant only to have their order taken by someone on Zoom.
After that, we’ve got another edition of “Meme History” for you.
One last thing: If you didn’t take our weekly news quiz yesterday, you still can! Just open yesterday’s newsletter to answer the question. If you guess correctly, you’ll be entered to win a “Take Me Out To The Blog Game” shirt.
See you next week!
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
👀 POLITICS
Mitt Romney jabs Trump in defense of Stormy Daniels’ affair allegations: ‘You don’t pay someone $130k not to have sex with you’
Retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) took a dig at former President Donald Trump while dismissing claims that Trump did not have an affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
🚙 WTF
‘Why didn’t you call the police while you were in Costco?’: Shopper issues warning after strange shopping encounter
A TikTok creator posted a viral video saying she was followed into a Costco parking lot by a random van. She urges viewers to be more aware of their surroundings.
💸 SCAMS
Woman says Chase Bank deleted fraud claim after scammer stole $3,000
A woman revealed that her roommate was tricked out of $3,000 by a scammer posing as Chase Bank, and Chase deleted the fraud claim afterward.
🍴 VIRAL
‘Why did it ask for a tip PLEASE’: Customer walks into restaurant. The server takes their order remotely via Zoom
In the comments section, users cracked jokes and expressed dismay at the tipping prompt.
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🤓 Meme History
By Kyle Calise
Video Producer
Meme History: Uno Reverse Card
Meme History is a weekly column that dives deep into internet lore to uncover the history of famous memes. It runs on Saturdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
🕸️ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.
💰 This new Kia car buyer learned the hard way that demanding particular options for a vehicle can often pigeonhole you into a high monthly payment.
💨 One expert went viral for sharing the correct way to apply perfume—you’re probably doing it wrong.
🏠 A property management company is in the hot seat after a former tenant used social media to share a poor review of its services.
💇 This Ulta customer shared why you should never get your haircut there by posting the results of her haircut.
🚘 A woman says car insurance is a “scam” after figuring out what she calls the “fine print” on her policy.
🥃 Every new job has its own learning curve. When you mix in a whole lot of lingo and even more alcohol, though, that curve can get pretty steep for new bartenders.
⚰️ From the Daily Dot archive: Is your kid attending funerals on Roblox?
👋 Before you go
If you’ve ever gulped down a grape or two at your local grocer, or perhaps snuck a piece of candy at a corner store without paying, you might want to think twice about that behavior if you plan on shopping at Walmart.
One TikToker is claiming that she got popped for popping popcorn chicken into her mouth at Walmart without paying for it first and is warning others that “Walmart DO NOT play” when it comes to any kind of shoplifting.
TikToker Alexi (@alexi.marie) alleges that a bit of forgetfulness at Walmart got her picture put into the store’s loss prevention system—and may have resulted in a narrow brush with the law during another recent trip to the popular retail chain.
