Helping the German Force

[dotinthesky]

On my flight back to London I had a stopover in Frankfurt. As I was getting off the airport bus, a dishelved man standing by the arrival gate walked over to me and started talking in hushed tones. I told him I spoke English and he looked a little flustered. He hadn't shaved for a few days, his eyes were nervous. He wore a trainspotter winter coat. He showed me a badge and said in his broken German accent that he was a customs officer.

"We are doing a training exercise today. Could you help us by carrying this bag?"

It was early in the morning, Frankfurt was covered in snow and I was still half asleep.

"We are training one of our sniffer dogs. It's over there," he said, pointing in the direction the other passengers were heading to. "You need to carry this bag past the dog."

You hear stories of innocent people made into drug mules, rotting away in some prison because they accepted this kind of request. The guy laughed nervously and explained that I only had to carry it with my left hand and wait to see what the officer with the dog (indeterminate, large breed) would say. Other passengers walked past us, some looking curiously at me as if I was an illegal immigrant that had just been busted.

I took the plastic bag with my left hand and joined the queue. Up ahead stood a female officer with the dog, sniffing everyone that walked past her. I looked back but the man was nowhere to be seen. Other passengers gave me some space, probably because they had witnessed what had happened and thought I was about to be arrested.

It came my turn to go past the dog. It sniffed the bag and immediately moved in front of me then shoved its snout in my crotch. The woman took the bag from me and fished a test tube from it with some kind of clear liquid. She threw it on the ground and the dog leapt on it. She laughed and said thank you for participating in the exercise.

Comments

[naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com]

Wow. I so wouldn't've touched that bag. You've got balls, dude.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

As Kevin says, it was probably a test too on how easily someone would accept it! :-/

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

I would have been really nervous about that!

Ooh, will email you about Monday!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

So what's the plan for tomorrow? Kevin wants to come too!

[live-life-like.livejournal.com]

hahaha....i swear i pictured it in my mind like a film scene!!!

:)
...oooh, my brave friend!!!!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Sometimes bravery is just a decision made half asleep...

[stevek.livejournal.com]

I'm not so sure I'd have participated, knowing my luck it wouldn't have been a training exercise! ;-)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

It would have made a great LJ post though! ;-)

[stevek.livejournal.com]

Although I'm not sure how available LJ would be from a prison cell. ;-)

[desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, there's no way I would agree to that!!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

What if they offered you some chocolate to do it?

[desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com]

I would think quite hard about it and then ask which brand.

[wwidsith.livejournal.com]

You are fucking mental!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

If mental also means easily led. :-)

[sbeth76.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I should be impressed that you are so brave or concerned because what if it was all a trick and you were in some German gulag right now??? By the way, thank you for the lovely holiday card! It was so much fun to receive.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Glad it arrived! :-)

[kevyn-kronycles.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't know they tested like that...you've got balls for being willing to participate in that exercise. Luckily the dog didn't lunge at you.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It all went well, but I'm now unfortunately fighting a typical London cold. Oh well, it's a good excuse to stay bundled indoors, reading books and watching the telly. :-)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I honestly had my brain left behind in the plane, so really didn't know what I was getting into...

[tonight-we-fly.livejournal.com]

I saw a Brasilian band called The Tamborines play earlier this evening, and they were fucking brilliant. Have you heard of them?

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

No I haven't! Cool... will seek out their stuff. :-)

[sor-eye-ah.livejournal.com]

No way I have touched that bag.....

Back home safe now? xx

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Safe and ready to fight this miserable winter to its bitter end. xoxo