in my work, i sometimes have to deal with various russian authorities. on some occasions with the russian border guards. now these people are tough cookies to break...
so there i go, off to some detention place to visit a few clients. i call up the head of the border guards to ask for permission to visit these people. now remember that i am female. and the interpreter who was with me that day was male. you think that doesn't matter? think again. in this part of the world, it does.
the border guard head comes out of his office and walks straight to us. he doesn't even look at me (!) but starts to talk to the interpreter straight away. because he's the man. oooops, he realises that i am actually "the boss" and turns to me, with a, let's say, not exactly friendly smile on his face. actually, forget it, there was no smile at all. of course.
after i've introduced myself and the purpose of my visit etc., the border guard head takes out his mobile phone and calls up his buddies. from the small parts of the conversation i overheard, i assume it was his buddies from the FSB.
(i suppose y'all know what the FSB is. it used to be called KGB in previous times. and the border guards service in russia ultimately falls under the FSB.)
alright, so he calls his buddies. and asks them to run a check on me. oh brother! as my friend would say. he had them check out my file before he would even talk to me!
the whole story, however, has a happy end.
i had made a new friend that day. the border guard head asked me out to the movies...
(i got out of the situation by responding only if the movie is not in russian - and that was the end of it...)
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