Traumatic mnemonic
My wife called my attention to this article (in Japanese) about a Japanese man who was detained for studying English.
Japanese detained for writing ‘suicide bomb’ during U.S. plane trip
A Japanese man, brushing up on his English, caused a bomb scare at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport late Sunday, after scrawling the words “suicide bomb” in his notebook.
The 60-year-old passenger had reportedly made a note of the phrase so he could look it up later, but a fellow traveler became suspicious and reported the hapless businessman to the flight staff.
The pilot of United Airlines flight 1184 turned the 737 jet around and returned to the terminal, where members of the Chicago police and fire departments and airport security were waiting, authorities said Monday.
All 120 passengers on board the flight to Columbus, Ohio, were taken off the plane.
The man was briefly detained, but released without charge once it became obvious “he was just trying to learn English,” Chicago police spokeswoman Patrice Harper said.
Nothing like almost getting arrested for building your vocabulary! This guy will never, ever forget the meaning of those words.
Saw this one one of the local newscasts Tues. night, but it seems to be getting played for laughs elsewhere, with “news” headlines like “English Lesson Bombs for Flier” (Toronto Star) and “Jet Diverted for English Lesson” (CBS News). Maybe I can be accused of my own case of overreaction, but this story really bugs me. Yet another case of common sense being eroded by irrational fear, and thus a microcosm of the States at this particular time. I’m sure someone somewhere that night uttered something along the lines of “you can’t be too safe these days” to which I can only reply, “yeah, and apparently you can’t be too paranoid either”
All too true, Kurt. All too painfully true.
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