Sign spotted at the gym.
Speaking of the gym... I was bopping along on my way to the gym this morning, my favourite walking tunes blasting on my iPod, getting me all motivated and fired up and as I approached the club I stopped in my tracks. There on the steps of the gym were several policemen and a big blue police van. "Hummm" thought I. "I wonder what's up?" And I went inside. Gathered around the reception desk was another group of men in grey uniforms and one intimidating looking fellow in a black leather jacket. (Why is it that black leather jackets always make you look a bit 'mafioso'?) I grabbed my lock and went to get changed into my workout gear. When I got back to the treadmill the group was still there, writing noted, looking around, inspecting the equipment, running up and down stairs and peeking into cupboards. It was rather Kafkaesque! When I had been on the treadmill for almost 45 minutes, the trainer came up to me and said I had to stop and get off for 5 minutes. "How weird" I thought, but I complied, and got off the treadmill. As soon as I was safely on the ground the power was cut off, and everyone stood around looking at each other. After a minute they switched it back on again and told me it was okay for me to continue on the machines. But I was finished anyway and went to the lockers. When I was leaving I asked Hyppo (short for some really long Greek name) what was going on and he whispered to me "Don't worry, they're the electricity police, and we've paid our bills".
Electricity police??? It takes SIX of them well over an hour to do an inspection?????
11 comments:
Must be a union position.
Electricity police? That's a new one! Maybe they thought you were stealing some?
At least you got your workout in. I'm so proud of you :)
Turtle Guy... you might be right!
Sarah... I'm sure that is really part of it. I think our electrical bills are estimated somehow as there are no meters as far as I know.
Ginnie... thanks!! That truly means something to me- someone who formerly hated exercise!
I had to link to this one ... crazinesss! But it made me remember arriving on main street Istanbul one day ... Taksim is where all the expats hang out, Turks too. There were a huge number of police buses and an armoured police vehicle. There were riot police in full riot gear. I ran my eyes over them as I walked by them and continued down the street they were heading onto.
No one stopped me so I must have presumed it was safe. It was only later I thought 'What the hell was I thinking!!??'
Thank God I just paid my power bill... I'm sure the Belgians would love the electricity police idea if they heard about it :)
Great story ww!
Haha Alison! But in Belgium you already have those "Media/TV/Radio police" don't you? I always thought that was weird in Holland. Taxed on the # of tv's etc that you have in your home!
that's crazy! i wonder what other kind of weird police are out there? i guess i don't really want to find out...
-Jackie
Oh ... come to Belgium stelle. I got caught crossing the road by a traffic policeman here. I ignored the red light saying don't cross because I was late and the cars had been standing still too.
That would have been a 50euro fine, but then he discovered I had no ID on me. He was horrified and started casting his eyes about. That's not a fine, that's 12 hours in jail ... dear god, I'm a New Zealander, we're really not used that kind of rubbish.
I got off ... but it would have made a good blog post eh wot :)
wow. i guess it's good good they have nothing better to do like chase drug dealers and hoodlums.
Hilarious! "How many Albanian electricity police does it take to check the meter?"
Yes, electricity police, I know it sounds weird. There's also a construction police. Since power theft is very common, these "electricians" go around trying to figure out if businesses or individuals are stealing electricity.
Post a Comment