#TBT Sorry folks, this Throwback Thursday Im just posting a (very long) story. I do not have any pictures of the event. So a couple of years ago I went on a cruise to the Bahamas. One of the guys that went with us went on and on about how he wanted to buy some Cuban cigars. As soon as we got there, that was his number one priority. For those that have never taken a cruise to the Bahamas, when you get off of the cruise ship there are street vendors lined up, lying in wait. Some are offering knock off goods such as Coach and Oakley as well as other big named clothing/accessories. Some are offering hair braiding, bootleg DVDs, trinkets, souvenirs and the like. They bombard you, trying to get you to purchase their goods or services. So when we get off of the ship the locals began to flock to us telling us what they had and how much it was. The guy that wanted cigars finally told one of them that he was interested in Cuban cigars. Of course that street merchant knew a guy. The women with us wanted to go shopping, so the men, my brother, myself and our buddy followed him to another strange guy sitting in a van on the side of the street. The guy in the van did indeed have Cuban cigars. So we started to discuss prices when the guy told us to get in the van so as not to look suspicious. There were lots of police officers in the area and we had no idea if purchasing them were legal or not. My brother and I flatly told the guy no. There was no way that we were getting into this strangers, running van to purchase what may be illegal goods, not to mention that we were in another country. But our buddy just jumped right in the van. They began to sort through the cigars as I made my way closer to the drivers window near the sidewalk. I started to think of the similarities all of the movies and TV shows Ive seen dealing with abductions and kidnappings had in common with this situation. I guess my brother sensed the same thing and made his way closer to me and the driver. I began to think that this was taking a lot longer than expected and it was starting to become uncomfortable. Then a local policeman came up, knocked on the windshield and began shouting something to the man in the van. The driver of the van put the vehicle in gear and started to move. I began inching toward the van and I started yelling things like NO!! NO!! And You arent going anywhere!, with my brother in tow. I had already successfully played out the scenario in my head of if I have to kill this guy, heres what Ill use and how Ill do it minutes before when the situation went south. The driver explained that the officer said that he couldnt park there and that he had to move. Proving that me and my brother think a lot alike, Dan turned to me and told me how he would hate to kill this guy and go to jail in the Bahamas. The officer was still near us and came back toward the van, the driver again started moving the vehicle. At that point I realized that I could no longer see our friend sitting in the van. I wondered what kind of con was really going on. Are the local police force in on this possible kidnapping? Was there one of those holes cut in the floor where an accomplice drug him into a sewer? Was he drugged and lying in the back? I knew it was time to make it or break it. So my brother and I decided to go and get him out of the van, at all costs, before the situation with the police or the illegal goods dealer became worse. The police were again shouting, this time much less friendly to get the van out of there. The van then started to take off again and I noticed that the back door was open. Just then our friend walked up behind us and said that we should probably get out of there. It turns out that the driver had told him to slip out the back door when the officer turned his back. A guy that I had already imagined taking out, Liam Neeson style, was just trying to get our friend out of the van in an unsuspicious manner before the lawmen noticed what was going on. For a few minutes there, I literally had no idea what we had gotten into and was quite nervous. But our friend, even in all of the commotion had scored a brown paper sack stuffed with Cubas greatest export. We walked down the street and through the sea of other tourists. The first store that we walked into was selling.... you guessed it, Cuban cigars. All of that hassle and drama was absolutely for nothing. They sold those things in nearly every store on the oceanfront.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 03:59:20 +0000
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