100 degrees Fahrenheit today in the German hills, a handful of degrees below the 4th of July daytime high in the desert town of Palm Springs, California.
Having checked on the elderly neighbor, a real life demonstration of "90 is the new 60", it's time to go see the first Highland cattle a friend acquired over the last couple of months.
We pull into the driveway of the tiny hamlet and turn off the car.
There is another car right behind us, performing a half turn, coming to a stop at a ninety degree angle.
Boxed in between buildings on three sides and the mystery car on the fourth side.
Dripping with sweat, courtesy of what passes as motor vehicle air conditioning around here in any non-Mercedes, non-Beemer or the like, we get out of our vehicle and are faced by a male in his forties or so.
There is no shop in this village?
No.
Oh, well, are you from here?
From the U.S.
His accent sounds Dutch, maybe northern Belgian.
Hm, I'm on the way to the airport and wanted to see if the local shop would buy the set of pots and a set of knives I can't take with me to Zurich. Would you like them for free?
I have no use for them and can't take them on the plane, the knives.
Well...
Thinking wtf is he trying to do, he can't be serious. Let's play along a bit, best case I get a set of pots and knives for free, worst case he'll try something weird. There is nobody else in sight. Could he try to mug us? Next thing you know, he is out of the car, opens the trunk and a large cardboard box to show us four nice looking pots and pans.
My boss told me not to bring them back, he says as he asks how much we think they sell for. A flyer appears in his hands, he points to the upper right hand corner and reads out one thousand five hundred Euros.
I paid less than 20 Euros for my last pot.
They are yours, gratis, he continues and reaches for a small wooden box. See these knives, they are Damascus steel. Yours for free, too. It would be great if you could give me the money I need to pay in taxes at the airport after I return this rental car.
Shall we cut him off right now and ask him to leave? Nah, if he wants to get money, let him work a bit harder for nothing. Cornering me in over a hundred degrees is not a good way to humor me. At this moment, our host steps out of the house. The scam artist produces a second box of Damascus knives.
That's worth fourteen hundred Euros. If you, he nods at our host then us, would pay me for this one, that would cover the taxes.
Our host looks at the four pattern welded knives: They are nice.
I step back to get a closer look at the car and tune out of their conversation. On the windshield, it sports a Swiss toll sticker for 2015. Time to call it quits, but as I turn to them, he is busy trying to get money out of our host.
So, how much money do you have?
Not enough.
If you split it, you could do it. You have money in the house, don't you?
Look, you just go towards the airport, I'm sure you'll find somebody there who can help you out.
Then everything happens very fast. The trunk closes, the guy gets into the car, utters what must be a curse, and is heading out of the driveway. The car has Dutch plates.
Good to see you, says our host. Come on in, this heat is unbearable. Someone called the cops on a guy trying to scam with pots and knives a few days ago. Maybe that was him.
No comments:
Post a Comment