Superstition tells us that tragedies happen in threes. The same rule applies to tragicomedies, as well.
Tragicomedy #1. In June, Brazilians took to the streets to protest against their corrupt and wasteful government. They were particularly upset with how much money the government was willing to spend on the World Cup, while simultaneously raising transit fares and leaving basic public services in a complete shambles. The irony is that restaurants and retailers -- the honest, hardworking people who could use an economic boost -- lost about $665 million in sales because of the protests.
Tragicomedy #2. As in most of South America, soccer is a religion in Brazil; they take the sport perhaps a little more seriously than they ought to. During an amateur game in the northeastern part of the country, a player and a referee got into a dispute, so the referee pulled a knife and stabbed the player to death. The unhappy crowd stoned, beheaded and quartered the referee, then put his head on a stake ... in a move that would definitely impress Vlad the Impaler.
Tragicomedy #3. Imagine that you're asleep in bed, when a cow comes crashing through the roof and crushes you to death. That's what happened to a man in Brazil, when his neighbor's cow accidentally stepped onto his roof. The man's wife (who was next to him in bed) and the cow were both unharmed. Perhaps the wife's brother spoke for all of us when he said, "being crushed by a cow in your bed is the last way you expect to leave this earth."
(AP photo)