September, 1994 (continued):
Two incidents stand out in memory of my return to the Leipzig (Germany) airport, as I prepared to fly to Hamburg. One was running into European radio legend Ad Roland
(pictured below, in his pirate radio days) as I waited to go through security.
If you’ve ever attended my How To Create Maximum Impact Radio Advertising seminar and heard me tell the “Matthew In Leipzig” story, here’s the first-hand account of that event.
Ad greeted me with a loud, cheerful, “So, Dan, do you have a bomb in that suitcase?” In the U.S, of course, making a joke like that in an airport is against the law. It didn’t seem to please the Leipzig security guards, either.
There were two guards, both of them big and surly, looking like the stereotype of an East German border guard. They spoke very little English. One noticed my computer case and demanded, “What is that?”
“A computer,” I replied.
“Turn it on.”
So I fired up my Macintosh Powerbook. Seeing that it really was a computer, he scowled and turned away, gesturing to indicate that he was through with me.
I started to shut down the computer when an odd thought struck me. The Powerbook had a built-in condenser microphone, and I had recorded my two kids on it. I opened the appropriate file and called to the guard, “Excuse me??”
He looked up, surprised and suspicious. Unsmilingly, I waved him back toward me — a rather insolent move, I thought. He came over and I pointed to the computer screen and then clicked on the mouse. Out of the computer came the voice of my four-year old boy: “Hi, my name is Matthew!”
I don’t know what the guard had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t Matthew saying hi. I smiled and said — in completely ungrammatical German — “Mein kinder.” The guard smiled broadly and called his partner over to see this.
I played it for them a couple of more times and then closed up the computer. They turned back to the people standing in line — but this time with smiles instead of scowls.
Meanwhile I kept thinking, “This should be a tv commercial for Powerbooks.”
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Dan, you were ahead of your time. These days they assume everybody has a computer in their bag and are surprised if you don’t.
not many comments..Only the “tough Ones” where you throttle or the dramatic ones get attention…Cute story Dan…Nice touch too..You could have been pretty “let’s get outta here!” but you held on and invited a connection!
You are an OK guy….Happy Valentine’s Day you IBooking American-my best to your daughter..what is she 27 now? I got some grey hair