Some things that happen in our daily life seem normal and I forget to share them. I was just on the phone with my mom, retelling a hilarious story that I really had not though to share until today. So the US embassy in Dhaka has a thing called the commissary. The commissary is a store that imports food that you can't really get here. It is a great place to find a lot of processed food that people can't live without but don't really need. There are freezers full of TV dinners (Pretty sure it is more expensive to by 30 TV dinners than to pay cook for a month...) All the good stuff like crappy syrup, skippy, oreos, etc. They do have some good stuff once in a while and they will special order stuff which is cool.
To get into the commissary you have to go through security which is a pretty involved process. You have to show your badge and they let you through one gate. Next is a huge metal gate that you go through they close behind you and then you have to stop your car, turn the engine off, open your trunk and hood and show your badge again. Then three guards walk around your car. One uses little sticky paper to check for bomb residue, one walks around with a mirror on the end of a stick to look for bombs under your car, and another walks around and makes sure the other two are doing their jobs. Once all is clear they wave to another guard in the bulletproof glass control box and he opens the final inner gate to let you in.
So going in with a car is funny enough but I have been taking the cargo bike to shop there... So I pull my bike into the security check and they make me get off, put the bike on the kick stand and step away. The guard takes his sticky paper and brushes the brake lever, the seat and the cargo box. And the best part... yeah the guy with the mirror comes around and checks under my bike for bombs. It is like one of those naked gun movies where the people are serious but the actions are hilarious. I try not to laugh and they don't even notice that it is funny. They wave me in a and I do my shopping all the while some guy is analyzing the sticky paper for traces of bomb material...
To get into the commissary you have to go through security which is a pretty involved process. You have to show your badge and they let you through one gate. Next is a huge metal gate that you go through they close behind you and then you have to stop your car, turn the engine off, open your trunk and hood and show your badge again. Then three guards walk around your car. One uses little sticky paper to check for bomb residue, one walks around with a mirror on the end of a stick to look for bombs under your car, and another walks around and makes sure the other two are doing their jobs. Once all is clear they wave to another guard in the bulletproof glass control box and he opens the final inner gate to let you in.
So going in with a car is funny enough but I have been taking the cargo bike to shop there... So I pull my bike into the security check and they make me get off, put the bike on the kick stand and step away. The guard takes his sticky paper and brushes the brake lever, the seat and the cargo box. And the best part... yeah the guy with the mirror comes around and checks under my bike for bombs. It is like one of those naked gun movies where the people are serious but the actions are hilarious. I try not to laugh and they don't even notice that it is funny. They wave me in a and I do my shopping all the while some guy is analyzing the sticky paper for traces of bomb material...
Its funny as hell, until some douche actually blows people up with a bike bomb.
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