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| Marcel Strigberger |
Let’s start with Jesus Christ, a.k.a., Sergei Torop. Sergei was the leader of some Russian cult in Siberia who insisted he was the reincarnation of Jesus. He had a following of thousands whom he exploited for labour and money. Of interest is that he forbade them to smoke, consume alcohol or use money. Russian authorities got a bit ticked off at the gentleman, arrested him and hammered him with 12 years in the slammer. I suppose consistent with his beliefs, he did not try to bribe his way out of this mess with rubles.
My warning: If you plan to travel to Siberia soon, be careful. Don’t go around telling people you can walk on water. If you do act foolish and get arrested, even calling the Canadian embassy may not help. The last thing you want to experience is presumably your one allowed phone call to the Canadian embassy and you get a recording that says, “We’re getting more calls than usual… And if you’re Jesus, press 7.”
Which gets us to the Czech town of Havlickuv Brod, 100 kilometres southeast of Prague. A family consisting of a father, mother and son have been arrested for running a dental clinic even though they were not dentists. For about two years they did fillings, root canals and extractions using online videos to guide them. I do commend them for being able to pull off their procedures. I am still trying to figure out with YouTube how to change my printer’s toner.
This was certainly a mom-and-pop operation. They face up to eight years in jail. Interestingly the Czech Dental Chamber, presumably their version of the College of Dentists, notes they get about 10 reports a year about fake dentists. I would call that an epidemic of crap cap operations.
My advice: If you intend to visit the Czech Republic, I would be very careful when chewing on chicken sandwiches, olives or almonds. You never know who you might draw as a dentist. And when you go through customs, think twice before saying to the officer, “Open your mouth wide.” Yes.
Let’s get closer to home. Federal prosecutors in the U.S. have charged Tiron Alexander of fraud for impersonating a flight attendant in order to get 120 free flights. Apparently he worked as a flight attendant for about two years, learning the ropes on how to log in at check-in to take advantage of the complementary flights that airlines accord flight staff. He inserted false information regarding where he worked, badge number, etc. Tiron faces up to 20 years in jail because, in addition to the fraud charges, he entered restricted areas at the airports.
My suggestion: Don’t even think of how he engineered those free flights. Forget about it. Perish the thought. I actually intend to snowbird in Florida this winter, and of course I shall reluctantly pay the egregious, rip-off, hefty, gouging airline charges. I did however, out of total innocence and curiosity, ask ChatGPT the details and instructions on how the gentleman pulled it off. Seems this issue is more popular than one might think. ChatGPT responded, “Won’t tell you. Vacation alert: Flying to California for the week.”
Oh well. I have always been suspicious about AI.
Hopefully my advice will save fellow travellers some aggravation. Stay safe. Bon voyage, whoever you are.
Marcel Strigberger retired from his Greater Toronto Area litigation practice and continues the more serious business of humorous author and speaker. His book, Boomers, Zoomers, and Other Oomers: A Boomer-biased Irreverent Perspective on Aging, is available on Amazon (e-book) and in paper version. His new(!) book First, Let’s Kill the Lawyer Jokes: An Attorney’s Irreverent Serious Look at the Legal Universe is available on Amazon, Apple and other book places. Visit www.marcelshumour.com. Follow him on X @MarcelsHumour.
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