EROTICISM GONE WRONG

‘50 Shades’ Spikes Handcuff Incidents

Firefighters say more people getting stuck.

In addition to rescuing people from burning buildings and saving the occasional cat from the tree, firefighters are also frequently tasked with extracting people’s limbs from the household objects in which they tend to get stuck. More than ever, though, the London Fire Brigade has observed that people are getting stuck in handcuffs—and suggests the rise in such emergencies might have something to do with people trying to act out their favorite erotic novel, Fifty Shades of Grey. In the past three years, the London firefighters have freed 79 people from handcuffs, while they’ve only pulled 18 kids’ heads out of toilets. Handcuff accidents may be on the rise, but the London firefighters have certainly rescued people from far more compromising positions. In 2010 the brigade responded to nine calls from people with rings stuck on their penises, and one from a man who managed to get his penis trapped in a toaster.