A woman goes through border control on her bicycle
with two panniers filled with sand.
The border guard was suspicious about it and searched through the sand, but couldn’t find anything hidden, so he had to let her through.
The next day, the same woman passes by, again riding a bike with two bags brimming with bright sand. The guard was still unable to find anything. He felt something was wrong and asked the woman whether he could take a cup of it for inspection. The woman agreed, and she was let through again.
The guard took the sample and put it through a thorough X-ray scan, hoping to find any grains that didn’t belong, but to no avail. As the woman passed the border daily, the guard was left in frustration, pondering every possible reason why anyone would bring sand across the border.
In the following weeks, the guard occasionally took a cup of the sand for inspection. After months without results, he delivered a sample to the national secret service and tasked a team of experienced chemical analysts to investigate it extensively. A week later and the only conclusion was that it was normal sand from a nearby beach.
One day, he gathered the courage to ask the woman, “It’s my last day at the job, and I will retire with over thirty years of experience as a border guard. Now, you’ve been crossing the border every day for six months, and I’m utterly stumped – why did you always bring two heavy bags of sand across?”
The woman replied, “I was smuggling bikes.”
The border guard was suspicious about it and searched through the sand, but couldn’t find anything hidden, so he had to let her through.
The next day, the same woman passes by, again riding a bike with two bags brimming with bright sand. The guard was still unable to find anything. He felt something was wrong and asked the woman whether he could take a cup of it for inspection. The woman agreed, and she was let through again.
The guard took the sample and put it through a thorough X-ray scan, hoping to find any grains that didn’t belong, but to no avail. As the woman passed the border daily, the guard was left in frustration, pondering every possible reason why anyone would bring sand across the border.
In the following weeks, the guard occasionally took a cup of the sand for inspection. After months without results, he delivered a sample to the national secret service and tasked a team of experienced chemical analysts to investigate it extensively. A week later and the only conclusion was that it was normal sand from a nearby beach.
One day, he gathered the courage to ask the woman, “It’s my last day at the job, and I will retire with over thirty years of experience as a border guard. Now, you’ve been crossing the border every day for six months, and I’m utterly stumped – why did you always bring two heavy bags of sand across?”
The woman replied, “I was smuggling bikes.”
