[Archived] Stories That Make You Stop & Think......

[cletus]

I get told lots of interesting tales every day. Some are amusing, some terribly sad & some completely barmy......but all of the story-tellers have insisted their tale is true.

Here`s a couple of tales i`ve been told....

Tale #1.....An elderly gent was telling me about his service in the RAF during WW2. He told me he was a pilot, not a fancy fighter ace or a bomber, but a Dakota 'transport' pilot. He said he flew all over during the war years, but one particular flight still bothered him a bit. He was flying some supplies & some Gurkhas on a routine flight somewhere in the far east. Before take-off, some Japanese POWs were squeezed onto the plane. They were being transported to a prison camp somewhere. The plane was loaded, they took off & completed their journey quite routinely, until somebody noticed upon arrival there was no sign of the POWs. The elderly gent said upon investigation, the Gurkhas had decided to throw them out mid-flight. I expressed my amazement at this tale, & the elderly gent assured me it was true. He went on to tell me 'alot of nasty things were done by both sides during the war' & the gurkhas had heard tales of what the Japanese were doing to Allied POWs, so they took exception to sharing a plane with them.

Tale #2.....I was talking to a lovely elderly lady in her mid 90s the other day. She had originated from eastern europe (judging by her accent) During our conversation she got a bit upset & asked me for a hug I asked if she was ok (& gave her a hug) She told me she was one of a family of 12 who were put into concentration camps during the war & she was the only one to come out alive. Her entire family had been wiped out, mother ,father & all her brothers & sisters. The poor lady even showed me a serial number tattoo the nazis had stamped her with.

It kinda puts everyday worries into perspective doesn`t it?

[Rovermatt]

An elderly friend of my mum's was in Auschwitz and her tattoo is still visible.

[mellison24]

A friend of mine (she's about 30) here at UCLAN suddenly started weeping on the 21st Nov and I asked her why (and comforted her, obviously). She told me that November is a horrible time of year for her and her husband because of her first child's death. During a routine scan in June 5 years ago, they were told that they'd be lucky for the child to get seconds of life, and on the scan it showed a deformation which stpped the baby developing a jaw and eyeballs (and numerous other defects). But she had a dream in which the baby was born perfectly and she had a feeling they'd get at least 24hours with him before he died. Will (the baby) was born at 3:22am on Nov 21st. I've seen a picture of him in her arms and you wouldn't tell the difference. He was perfectly formed from the outside and looked like he was sleeping. He passed away at 3:22am on Nov 21st. They got exactly 24 hours with their first child. As has been said, things like this really put our lesser worries and hassles into perspective.

[Tom]

*looks in*

*leaves*

[cletus]

A woman i know recently had a holiday in the states. Unfortunately she fell ill & had to spend 3 days in hospital. Before being treated, they had to provide proof of medical insurance. The treatment she got was first rate & she made a speedy recovery. Before leaving the hospital she had to sign some forms. One of the forms had an itemised bill which was to be sent to the insurance company.

Her 3 day stay in an American hospital had racked up an astonishing bill of 25 thousand dollars!!!

She came away from the hospital with a course of antibiotics (about a dozen tablets)....they were billed at 900 dollars!!!

I`ll never call the NHS again