An Undeserving Bill

So, last summer, in Berlin….a fair came to town. Naturally, they had some outstanding rides…..which one was identified as the “Star Gate”.

At some point in the ride….it suddenly stopped, and got stuck.

Folks got fearful, and then called the fire department….who naturally came out within twenty minutes….and over the next half-an-hour…..brought down all of the participants in the ride. The folks were upside down, and you can imagine your stress level at that point….asking for help and just thanking God for those great firemen.

Well…time has passed, and the fire department sent out bills. Yep….281 Euro or $420 for each person rescued.

The Star Gate ride folks said that they were fully capable of rescuing the folks and were in the process of doing so…when these firemen arrived and barged right in. So they’ve declined paying.

So the fire department went to the obvious number two choice….the riders. So these folks are getting their bills, and it’s pretty much a “don’t you dare bill me for this” routine.

The fire department isn’t sorry at all….they just want their money. They claim that the riders can sue the operator or their own insurance companies for the rescue.

I sat there for a while….looking at this. The idea of being upside down for forty-five minutes….just ain’t exciting for me at all. I would have wanted the rescue by anyone….even midget firemen from Red Bay or female wrestlers from Montgomery. But you know….as soon as I got off the dang ride….I would have ran as fast as possible to my car and driven away. I wouldn’t have given these idiots my name or address.

The minute you start to hand rescue folks your name, your address, your phone, your email address….you more or less just start inviting trouble down the line.

The curious thing is that the fire department will hand this over to a collection company after a couple of months of effort….and they will come to your house to collect a TV, a stero, a computer….or whatever it takes….to render the $420 back to the fire department. That’s the German way.

So what those pitiful folks do now? If I were a rescued guy….I’d park my car in front of the fire department with a bucket and a sign (“Rescue me from these fools”). I’d let the local newspaper know and ask for donations. Every time a fire occurs….go behind the guys and sit up another bucket donation with the sign out in front of the whole operation. I’d make the fire department feel like “whores” in this whole episode.

The funny thing? The state pays them every single minute they are on duty. They get paid to sit around the fire department, and they get paid to put out fires. It’s the same pay…every single day. If they rescue forty folks in one month or one dog in one month….it’s the same pay. So where exactly does this $420 fit into this? Yes…..that would be a curious question to pose.