BILL KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME, the NPR News quiz. I'm Bill Kurtis. We're playing this week with Alonzo Bodden, Roxanne Roberts and Charla Lauriston. And here again is your host - at least we think it's him and not just a really good impersonator - Peter Sagal.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Thank you, Bill. Right now, it is time for the WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME Bluff The Listener game. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to play our game on the air.
Hi, you're on WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME.
GEORGE EKELERA: Hi, Peter. This is George Ekelera (ph) from Trail, Ore. It's great to be on.
SAGAL: It's great to have you. What do you do out there in Trail, Ore.?
EKELERA: I work with the Army Corps of Engineers, and I'm a park ranger for them.
SAGAL: Oh, you are?
EKELERA: Yes.
SAGAL: So I thought the Army Corps of Engineers did things like build dams and canals and stuff. I didn't think they had park rangers.
EKELERA: And that's what I'm stationed on.
SAGAL: Oh.
EKELERA: We're here at a dam on the Rogue River. And when they dammed up the river, there were a bunch of recreation areas that popped up.
SAGAL: Oh, I see.
EKELERA: So they thought to themselves, well, we need someone to make sure people don't, you know, light this on fire.
SAGAL: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
EKELERA: And they hired us.
SAGAL: Although if someone were to come and light the Rogue River on fire, I think it'd be more fun just to watch and - just sit and watch them try.
EKELERA: Well, (laughter) it is Oregon. You'd be surprised what could burn out here.
SAGAL: Yeah, that is true. That is true. Well, welcome to the show, George. You're going to play the game in which you must try to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what is George's topic?
KURTIS: And They Lived Happily Ever After, Somehow.
SAGAL: Well, we've all heard that every cloud has a silver lining, which doesn't make sense because clouds are made of marshmallows. This week, we heard a story that started out just terribly. We were very worried, but it had a really surprising happy ending. Our panelists are going to tell you about it. Pick the one who's telling the truth, you'll win our prize - the WAIT WAITer of your choice on your voicemail. Are you ready to play?
EKELERA: Absolutely.
SAGAL: All right. First up, let's hear from Alonzo Bodden.
ALONZO BODDEN: Sunday morning, every parent's worst nightmare happen to Linda Oswald and her family - a high-speed collision on Idaho's Highway 41. Glass shattered, cars spun, but thankfully, everybody was OK, except - where's Tilly? The family's beloved border collie was gone, thrown from the car and nowhere to be found. They searched and searched, sent out pleas on social media, but all seemed lost along with Tilly.
Two days later, on a nearby sheep farm, Tyler Potter glanced out at his flock, and he noticed with satisfaction that his two sheepdogs were on the job. Wait a minute. He only had one sheepdog. Closer inspection revealed that his sheepdog, Hooey (ph), had been joined by a colleague, a border collie that was happily co-herding the sheep, living his best life. Even shepherds have social media, so it didn't take long for Tyler to realize who his new employee was. It was Tilly.
So he flagged down a passing police cruiser. He said, that dog was just trying too hard. The Oswalds say that Tilly is fine but perhaps a little upset, maybe because she was abandoned out on a prairie or maybe because she had finally living every border collie's dream, herding sheep, and some idiot shepherd dropped a dime on it.
SAGAL: All right. A dog gets lost in a traffic accident, maybe killed but, in fact, is discovered two days later happily herding sheep. Your next story of things turning out well is from Roxanne Roberts.
ROXANNE ROBERTS: As soon as Rose Hill Manor announced it was reopening May 1, the Long Island wedding venue was booked solid with anxious brides and grooms who waited more than a year to tie the knot. In what would prove to be a fateful scheduling coincidence, the Givens-DeLuca wedding and the Rossi-Thompson (ph) wedding were (ph) set for adjoining ballrooms. This is where groom Stephen DeLuca (ph) laid eyes on the bride next door, Caitlyn Rossi (ph), who turned out to be his high school sweetheart from 15 years earlier, reports The New York Post.
What happened next is like a rom-com. DeLuca and Rossi ran off together, leaving their abandoned fiancees with two receptions and 265 shocked guests. Now Vicky Givens (ph) and Trey Thompson (ph) have teamed up for a $350,000 lawsuit seeking damages for wedding costs and emotional distress. And they say they're happily dating. Quote, "this is the strangest meet cute in history," Thompson told the Post, "but I'm lucky to have found Vicky."
SAGAL: Two weddings happening at the same time result in one groom running off with one bride, which leads to a lawsuit and the other groom and bride finding each other. Your last bad-news-turned-good-news story comes from Charla Lauriston.
CHARLA LAURISTON: Irene Bass (ph) of Pocatello, Ore., had quite the scare this weekend when a routine day on the job at Pocatello Credit Union turned into a life-or-death situation. Bass, a bank teller at the credit union for the last 13 years, said her life flashed before her eyes when a customer slipped her a note that said to empty out her cash bin or else. I looked up at him and something struck me, she said. I was so scared I didn't know if I could speak. But I managed to say - didn't you sit behind me in fifth grade math? It was my old friend Tony (ph).
What makes it even more amazing is I recognized him, even though he was wearing a ski mask. But he did always have nice eyes. He recognized her, too. And after a little chitchat - you know, what have you been up to? And, oh, you know, robbing banks - she took her lunch break, and they caught up over sandwiches at the Subway down the street. I paid, Irene said. Something told me he was short on cash.
SAGAL: So you've heard three stories of happy endings. Was the real one in the news from, A, Alonzo, a border collie who got lost in a traffic accident but was found two days later herding sheep, like all border collies truly want to do; from Roxanne, two weddings that were wrecked when they were booked in the same place, leading to the bride and groom running off together, but the other bride and groom also liked each other, so no harm done; or from Charla, a bank teller getting robbed and realizing that, no, it's not a bank robber, it's her old friend? What a lovely reunion. Which of these was the real story of a happy ending in the news?
EKELERA: I think I'm going to go with the two weddings.
SAGAL: You're going to go with the two weddings. You're going to choose Roxanne's story of the weddings that happened in the same place. Bride, groom see each other, run off together. Other bride and groom mad, but they decide, hey, they've got something in common. Why not see if that'll work? That's your choice?
EKELERA: (Laughter) I think so.
SAGAL: You think so? All right. You have chosen that. We - well, we spoke to one of the people who benefited from this very happy ending.
LINDA OSWALD: He was found at the sheep farm. Apparently they realized that he'd actually herded the sheep.
SAGAL: Yup, that was Linda Oswald, human companion to Tilly the border collie, talking about how her dog landed her dream dog, and then she tragically took it away from her. So I'm sorry. It turns out Alonzo was telling the truth about the world's luckiest border collie. I'm so sorry. You didn't win, but you earned a point for Roxanne, who, as she likes to do, beguiled you.
EKELERA: (Laughter).
SAGAL: Thank you so much for playing. And hopefully, maybe I'll see you out there in the Rogue River sometime soon.
EKELERA: Oh, my God. Come rafting with us, please.
SAGAL: I will. Thank you so much.
EKELERA: Bye.
SAGAL: Bye-bye.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILVER LINING")
RILO KILEY: (Singing) Hooray, hooray. I'm your silver lining. Hooray, hooray. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.