I've always been a firm believer that truth is so much stranger than fiction. (In fact, that's one of the reasons I chose to study Journalism over English when I was in college.) I think that the story about the Washington, D.C. robbery that was foiled by the offer of a glass of wine takes the cake though.

From The International Herald Tribune:

A group of friends was finishing a dinner of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp on the back patio of a Washington, D.C. home when a hooded man slid through an open gate and pointed a Handgun at the head of a 14-year-old girl.

"Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," the intruder said, according to Washington, D.C., police and witnesses. Everyone froze, including the girl's parents. Then one guest spoke up.

"We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, told the man. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?"

The intruder had a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupery and said, "Damn, that's good wine."

The story gets even stranger, ending with a group hug and the would-be robber leaving the scene with a filled wine glass. Ahh, the power of a good Bordeaux.