Question: whats your funny story?

Mark Kennedy answered on 15 Nov 2016:

A couple of years ago I was living in Madrid, in Spain, working for the European Space Agency. I was there for 3 months, and before I got there, I didn’t know a word of Spanish.

In early August, I lost my passport. Where I worked was a 40 minute bus ride away from my apartment, so I assumed I either dropped it when walking to the bus, or someone had stolen it. Either way, I had to go to the Irish embassy and request an emergency passport, and report to the Spanish police that my passport had been robbed (that last bit was very tricky, especially since I didn’t speak Spanish).

I can’t stress how long it took me to get a replacement passport – I was into and out of the Irish embassy at least a dozen times, had to get forms signed by priests, police men and my employer and had to nearly delay being able to come home because (obviously) I couldn’t travel with my passport.

Now, fast forward 2 months. It’s early October, and I’m back in Ireland, back studying for my final year of college. I’m sitting in my 9am lecture on quantum mechanics, taking some notes, when my refill pad runs out of paper. I slide the cardboard back out…and guess what I find wedged in behind my pad?

That’s right. My passport. I had never actually lost it. In fact, I signed forms saying “I have lost my passport and need a new one” on top of the old passport, just not able to feel it. At this stage, everyone in my class had heard of how I lost my passport, and one of people sitting next to me saw me take it out.

I don’t think any of my class stopped laughing that entire morning. Morale of the story : always check behind the refill pad if you think you’ve lost your passport.