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Reever: 1) Sorry, you're listed as living in Belgium, couldn't have thought of Basque Country :D
And damn, that was a hard turn-down...
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P1na: Yeah, well, I'll be damned before I ever list myself as Spanish. It said Ireland while I was living there, I'm currently in Belgium, and if it all goes well next week it should say Germany. But my biggest police-related scare happened in France, so you weren't that far off, although it's still Basque-related.

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Reever: 2) I'm beginning to think you might really be a terrorist, with you having so many police encounters xD I do have a Torchlight code, if you couldn't get it during the promo :P
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P1na: I do have it, about a couple dozen of them in fact. But I'll take it as a gesture of good faith, and tell you one (1) story. Choose well!
There you have it!! :D

And now, I don't want to derail this thread, but I'd love to talk more about the topic of autonomy and and how you feel as a Basque. I have to admit I don't know much about the Basque/Spain issue and would like to learn more (as I'm studying politics, it's good to stay informed and to take in as many points of view as you can!). Of course, only if you have time and want to :) (through PMs)
Post edited June 30, 2013 by Reever
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Reever: snip
Well, not the best choice, as this particular story is more scary than fun. But have at it.

I was working in Belgium at the time, and I went down to Paris to visit an old friend who was living there, we were high school classmates. So I got to Paris and we went wandering around for the weekend, speaking in Basque most of the time. And then I went back to Belgium by bus, with the only "incident" of having misplaced the ticket and almost having to spend the night at the bus station since there were no more open seats that night. Luckily, I found the ticket in the nick of time. I didn't see a single policeman (up close).

A couple of days later, I read on the news there had been a shoutout in Paris where a policeman had died, attributed to ETA. French police were out for blood, the faces of the terrorists were all over the news as they requested cooperation to locate them. However, as it turns out, the "terrorists" weren't terrorists at all. Some off-duty French policeman claimed he had heard 3 guys speaking in Basque at a supermarket, the police got their faces from the supermarket's cameras and there you have it, pictures for the media. These 3 guys turned out to be Catalan firemen on holiday in Paris, which means they were almost certainly speaking Catalan and not Basque (which is seriously different, may I add). They heard of the whole thing when family called them to tell them they were on the Spanish news as "most wanted terrorists", so they holed up at their hotel room and contacted Catalan authorities to get things cleared out.

Now, this is somewhat funny, but I suppose you can see where this is going, right? That could have been me. I was walking all around Paris speaking in Basque for 2 days, after all. These guys got away because they weren't even Basque and it was a very clear mistake. But what if it had been me? Furthermore, what if I couldn't find my bus ticket and had to spend that night at the station, would that have counted as an Alibi? I could have awoken one day to be the most wanted terrorist in two countries and gone to work just like that because I wouldn't have known. I'm scared of Spanish police, with torture and whatnot, and while French police is likely not the same it still gave me cold sweat.

So this is the scariest police-related experience I've ever had. Nothing actually happened, but I assure you when I read the news and imagined what realistically could have happened to me... it was damn scary.
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Reever: snip
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P1na: Well, not the best choice, as this particular story is more scary than fun. But have at it.

I was working in Belgium at the time, and I went down to Paris to visit an old friend who was living there, we were high school classmates. So I got to Paris and we went wandering around for the weekend, speaking in Basque most of the time. And then I went back to Belgium by bus, with the only "incident" of having misplaced the ticket and almost having to spend the night at the bus station since there were no more open seats that night. Luckily, I found the ticket in the nick of time. I didn't see a single policeman (up close).

A couple of days later, I read on the news there had been a shoutout in Paris where a policeman had died, attributed to ETA. French police were out for blood, the faces of the terrorists were all over the news as they requested cooperation to locate them. However, as it turns out, the "terrorists" weren't terrorists at all. Some off-duty French policeman claimed he had heard 3 guys speaking in Basque at a supermarket, the police got their faces from the supermarket's cameras and there you have it, pictures for the media. These 3 guys turned out to be Catalan firemen on holiday in Paris, which means they were almost certainly speaking Catalan and not Basque (which is seriously different, may I add). They heard of the whole thing when family called them to tell them they were on the Spanish news as "most wanted terrorists", so they holed up at their hotel room and contacted Catalan authorities to get things cleared out.

Now, this is somewhat funny, but I suppose you can see where this is going, right? That could have been me. I was walking all around Paris speaking in Basque for 2 days, after all. These guys got away because they weren't even Basque and it was a very clear mistake. But what if it had been me? Furthermore, what if I couldn't find my bus ticket and had to spend that night at the station, would that have counted as an Alibi? I could have awoken one day to be the most wanted terrorist in two countries and gone to work just like that because I wouldn't have known. I'm scared of Spanish police, with torture and whatnot, and while French police is likely not the same it still gave me cold sweat.

So this is the scariest police-related experience I've ever had. Nothing actually happened, but I assure you when I read the news and imagined what realistically could have happened to me... it was damn scary.
Good for you, less entertaining for us :D But good that things worked out!!
This is sad... really really sad. This is possibly the saddest thing ive ever seen (goes to younger 17 old brother to warn him from making sarcastic comments of league)
the amount of time my friends and I spent siting in fast food restaurants calmly talking about murder, theft ectra

that is just not right
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meowstef: the amount of time my friends and I spent siting in fast food restaurants calmly talking about murder, theft ectra

that is just not right
Reminds of this.