Contact

Martin H. Samuel (songs, stories and poems).

One Night In Venice

'twas 'pon a Venice 24-hour layover, when two male members of our airline crew had quite the separate, yet different, adventure.

Flight attendant Number One, who speaks Italian, thought it would be fun to fly his drone in St. Mark's Square... it was fun at first, until he was arrested for doing so.

The drone was confiscated and could possibly have become a Christmas present for a Venice cop's cousin (or, perhaps not).

Among the many convoluted and unfathomable Italian Laws, one states; 'Drones must carry third-party insurance.'

This one did not and, violating Italian aviation rules is an offence, potentially punishable with fines of up to €113,000.00.

Flight attendant Number Two, who speaks nary a word of Italian (nor Chinese), having had a hard day sunning himself at the Lido beach, returned to the hotel and turned in for a good night's sleep.

He woke in the wee, dark hours with the feeling something wasn't quite right.

Turning over, he was appalled to find, not something but, someone sound asleep, and snoring, in bed with him.

Could it be, he had left the door to his room unlocked?

If so, what a turn-up for the books this was.

Turns out, it was a little old Chinese lady, clad in her little old Chinese silk jammies, sleeping peacefully!

Not to put too fine a point on it but, this Flight Attendant couldn't make lemonade out of that lemon, old as she was, as, he happened to be gay.

She wasn't there when he went to bed and, completely baffled by this turnabout, he could only wake her and, as not word one of English did the little old oriental lady speak, shoo her out the door... presumably, disoriented as she was, to roam the corridors, where she may yet be to this day (or night).

Martin Howard Samuel