Timeline: 1960s - Location: Ireland & 1980s Tangiers Morocco
As a young man in the 1960s I looked for various ways to fund my summer holidays in Kinsale , Co Cork and found that young people were always on the look out for contraceptives which were not freely available in Ireland at the time on account of the harsh Catholic stance and so finding a ready market amongst the Bohemian and Hippy communities which often were to be found at Charles Fort just outside Summer Cove was indeed relatively easy and I took substantial orders for my return trip.
I suppose it must have been Karma as my next "nodder exploit" was when Sheelagh and I were living in our double decker bus in Tangiers , Morocco.
Every month or so I would go to Gibraltar for the day to buy essential supplies including Lucozade , chocolate , duty free cigarettes , jam and condoms etc. I would make the 15 minute flight on the ancient GibAir Vickers Viscount operated by Bland Lines in Gibraltar which was a lovely old aeroplane and was known by all as "Yogi" because when on the runway overnight at Gibraltar some comedian with a terrific sense of humour "got to it" and hand painted "YO" in front of the proudly emblazoned GIBAIR so it read "YOGIBAIR"! It stayed like that the whole year !
I had a problem as my passport clearly stated that I had a double-decker bus in Morocco and one was not allowed to leave the country without your vehicle, however like all problems , there was an answer that lay in the form of me bribing an airport emigration official at Tangiers airport and was allowed free passage to Gib for the day and so my routine and relationship with the official started . After a while I did not need to pay any backsheesh provided I bought the said official 200 Marlboro cigarettes back from Gib and the system worked well for both of us until one fine day I took the morning flight and got stuck in a couple of pubs in Gib and forgot to buy cigarettes in time for the return flight . On arrival back at Tangiers airport in a slightly drunken state I was approached by Abdul who demanded his cigarettes and was furious that I had come empty handed - he then took me to the baggage inspection table and found the condoms , blew them up and and laughed as they flew round the inspection room after which he found my two pots of quality strawberry jam and emptied them on my head !
On leaving the Airport I couldn't get a taxi because the taxi drivers said I was in too much of a mess and I ended up walking most of the ten odd miles back to our home.
I didn't forget his cigarettes again!
As a young man in the 1960s I looked for various ways to fund my summer holidays in Kinsale , Co Cork and found that young people were always on the look out for contraceptives which were not freely available in Ireland at the time on account of the harsh Catholic stance and so finding a ready market amongst the Bohemian and Hippy communities which often were to be found at Charles Fort just outside Summer Cove was indeed relatively easy and I took substantial orders for my return trip.
Back in England I drove to a wholesale supplier in Birmingam and purchased 3000 condoms at a very satisfactory rate but was worried that I might not be able to sell all in a short space of time however on my return to Ireland with three suitcases on the ferry and absolutely no trouble at the Irish border end in Cork I am glad to say that I quadrupled my investment and "sold out" in less than a week once the word had spread!
I consider that I was performing a good social service as well as making a few bob!
Every month or so I would go to Gibraltar for the day to buy essential supplies including Lucozade , chocolate , duty free cigarettes , jam and condoms etc. I would make the 15 minute flight on the ancient GibAir Vickers Viscount operated by Bland Lines in Gibraltar which was a lovely old aeroplane and was known by all as "Yogi" because when on the runway overnight at Gibraltar some comedian with a terrific sense of humour "got to it" and hand painted "YO" in front of the proudly emblazoned GIBAIR so it read "YOGIBAIR"! It stayed like that the whole year !
I had a problem as my passport clearly stated that I had a double-decker bus in Morocco and one was not allowed to leave the country without your vehicle, however like all problems , there was an answer that lay in the form of me bribing an airport emigration official at Tangiers airport and was allowed free passage to Gib for the day and so my routine and relationship with the official started . After a while I did not need to pay any backsheesh provided I bought the said official 200 Marlboro cigarettes back from Gib and the system worked well for both of us until one fine day I took the morning flight and got stuck in a couple of pubs in Gib and forgot to buy cigarettes in time for the return flight . On arrival back at Tangiers airport in a slightly drunken state I was approached by Abdul who demanded his cigarettes and was furious that I had come empty handed - he then took me to the baggage inspection table and found the condoms , blew them up and and laughed as they flew round the inspection room after which he found my two pots of quality strawberry jam and emptied them on my head !
On leaving the Airport I couldn't get a taxi because the taxi drivers said I was in too much of a mess and I ended up walking most of the ten odd miles back to our home.
I didn't forget his cigarettes again!
Comments
Post a Comment