Thanks For the Lesson, Liam Neeson
In 2010, when I was 20, I traveled from Texas to Toulouse with a connection in Paris. I didn’t speak a lick of French, and it was my first time traveling alone.
I had a horrible time navigating baggage and customs, and then finding the gate information for my connecting flight from Paris to Toulouse, so I was relieved when a young man in a uniform with credentials around his neck offered to help me find my gate.
I assumed he worked for the airport. He found my flight and told me how to get to my gate, but then he said that I would have to wait to go through security because I was so early for my flight.
He asked if I had ever been to Paris before and I said no, and lamented that I had about seven hours to kill. He told me that he was about to get off work and had a second job as a limo driver, before offering to take me around Paris while I waited.
I was a little intrigued because I was single and he was French and cute and helpful…but a little voice inside told me to think. Luckily, the movie Taken had just come out and I, for the first time in my life, knew what human trafficking was.
So I actually listened to the little voice in my head that told me to not be polite and declined the offer. Despite that, he still insisted on staying close by. I finally let him buy me a packet of cookies for a snack. After chatting for a little while longer, I was beginning to feel uneasy, so I told him I needed to use the restroom.
A woman followed me in and informed me that the man I had been speaking to did not work for the airport and that I needed to find a police officer right away. She and her husband had overheard parts of our conversation and knew he was up to no good.
When I came out, he was gone and the woman’s husband was talking to security. They let me go ahead to my gate and told me not to leave with anyone. I’m sure I was almost sold into slavery. Thanks for the lesson, Liam Neeson.
Story credit: Reddit / teacherdrinker