one saturday night in 2012, a search party was organized in iceland to hunt for a woman who had apparently failed to return to her tour bus. but the twist? she had. she became part of the search party looking for her, unaware that she was the subject of everyone’s concern.
the tour bus in question had stopped near iceland’s eldgja canyon and the woman in question took the opportunity to go freshen up and change clothes.
when she reboarded the bus, the rest of the passengers didn’t realize it was her. instead, they became alarmed that she’d gone missing. the driver waited for an hour before the police were called.
things escalated. a search of the area took place, joined by around 50 people, some in vehicles, many on foot. the coast guard was alerted, and the search went on for several hours.
it wasn’t until three in the morning that the truth became apparent: that the woman everyone thought was missing was actually helping them in the search. once she realized she was the missing tourist, she informed the police. the search was called off.
moral of the story? it’s always worth properly counting the number of people on a tour bus. no matter what they happen to be wearing.
—
“not only do I not know what’s going on,
i wouldn’t know what to do about it if i did”
– george carlin
—
credits: mentalfloss.uk
Were you the woman in question, Beth? Wow! That’s like a repetitive redundancy within itself.
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no, but i could certainly see it happening to me )
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To me as well!
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oh, lordy..I harbor a similar tale of chaperoning 8th graders and losing one in Chicago at the close of a school year…except she was not lost in the bowels of the natural history museum…she had found some sailors? so we waited and waited!
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oops! )
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GC speaks my language! What a scenario of misread lines!!!!
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yes, i think we can all identify with his quote at times. some, more often than others )
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Oops, here is the George Carlin quote. Need a 2nd cup of coffee, Beth!
This was funny and wondering if the group touring were considered “senior citizens?” 😀
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Mm,not sure –
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Great story and terrific quote. I do miss
Carlin’s wit and humor.
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Me too )
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I broke my heart laughing when I read this at the time. I told my family and they were convinced I’d made it up.
Imagine the embarrassment! Great story though.
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Ha! Glad you enjoyed it )
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“I Love to Count!” Bwahaha! Very important point made by your story Beth. A great story to inform your kinders – always count and be counted. It is a good thing to do even when you are not sure what to do. I can remember my first job in sanitation at a bakery when I was 13. I worked weekends and so did the General Manager – Graham (that’s astounding that name is on my mind even after 45 years), My Dad worked there as a manager and he and Graham socialized. One Sunday he called me to his office and explained that a transport was arriving with a full load of the metal trays we used to haul bread throughout our system. He very specifically told me to be sure to count them as I would be receiving the load. Now these nested when empty into 35 per stack and a transport would hold about 100 stacks – so I was expecting 3,500 bread trays. When the load arrived the driver was in a rush and convinced me to receive the load without counting it (the number of stacks yes but the number of trays per stack,no). when we were done and he left, I took the invoice to the GM’s office. His first question was:” Did you count it?” I was honest and told him no. He asked why not and I told him the driver was in a rush and there were so many trays that i figured my time was worth more than a tray or two. He asked if I knew what the trays cost and I replied : $35 each. he asked what he paid me and I admitted $12 per hour. So he could pay me for about 6 hours pay just to catch a shortage of two trays.
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Good lesson )
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I’m glad I found this post!
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Thanks !
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Perfect blog fodder and I’m taking the quote to work. Thanks, Beth.
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Great )
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That’s epic. What a story!
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Great story! Love the moral. Sound advice. 🙂
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Lol! That sounds like something that would happen to one of us
>
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Good story Beth! My heart goes out to her … perhaps for being so disconnected from others.
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How could anyone forget to head count? This is just so perfect an example how people just don’t even see what is right in front of them. Unbelievable!!!
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i know!
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oh for goodness sake!
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yep!
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That’s a crazy story…really. Love George Carlin. He always made you see the obvious in a way that made you laugh at yourself.
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I agree)
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Fun story, and great quote. I loved George Carlin.
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Me too )
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Ha ha, oh dear! Having not been here for a while I was idly leafing through the reader to get my blogging mojo back and I came across this. It’s the kind of story that you just couldn’t make up! Thanks, Beth. 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed it and welcome back)
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Great story! My travel companion had slipped back on our tour bus while the tour guide’s back was turned. After a good amount of time had passed, the guide double-checked his list and my friend’s name didn’t have a check mark beside it. He waited a little longer, then finally got in the bus, grabbed the speaker and asked the group if the missing name was on the bus (which, of course, she was). Seems he knew what was going on.
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Ha! And there is the difference )
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Oh goodness! Talk about irony! That may be worse than looking for your glasses and finding them on your own face! Actually, it’s much worse. I may have to write a poem on this one!
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Indeed! And hope you do!
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I would have died from embarrassment! Great point to make sure all are accounted for! 🙂
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i think so too, kelly )
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I count heads constantly when out with my class but I do wonder what would happen if I got the right number but the wrong kids!
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Me too!)
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Oh my goodness- I suppose if you are out looking for yourself you better know who you are looking for 🙂 I just can’t stop laughing.
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Exactly)
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Definitely a case of finding yourself!
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glad she was OK
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i am too )
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Oh, my goodness, I laughed myself silly on this one! What a wonderful plot for a short story!
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i thought it was hilarious too )
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That goes to show how closely people actually look at each other.
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You are so right- that is exactly what I thought-
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You have a well-developed sense of irony. 🙂
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You certainly gave me quite a laugh. I had to share this with my hubby! Glad to hear it wasn’t you! LOL!
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I’m glad it wasn’t too )
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O…M…G…. How frustrating that would be!!!
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yes!
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If travel alone, make sure to introduce yourself to people around you, I guess 🙂
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lesson learned –
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I guess you shouldn’t have changed clothes, Beth. Would be a great plot for a story. Love the Carlin quote.
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hahahahaha
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