You would be forgiven for thinking that getting trapped in and under stuff stopped when you grew old enough to know better. But, this one German has proven that wrong after getting stuck under a train armrest while trying to retrieve some headphones.
We all know the nightmare of dropping one of your wireless headphones somewhere. They never simply fall to the floor. Instead, they’ll head off on a journey worthy of a Tolkien novel. Everyone is humbled while they scrabble around trying to catch or retrieve a lost AirPod.
One German train passenger was humiliated by becoming stuck under an armrest while trying to grab their AirPods. Emergency services were left stumped, trying to pull them free. The volunteer firefighters were called to the Lehrte train station in Lower Saxony to assist the stuck person.
“Upon arrival, the situation was such that a man on a Westfalenbahn train traveling toward Braunschweig had his hand trapped under an armrest. It was behind the seat, in the side paneling, and he was unable to free himself,” the report states.
Jammed German Generates Giant Grievance
At first glance, the volunteer fire rescue team that turned up to help the stuck train passenger thought they had an easy job. However, it transpired that they were seriously wedged in there. Because of the position they were in, trying to rescue their headphones, their hand had become swollen. It was unable to be pried free.
So, the trapped traveller had to be rescued by dismantling the train. First, the luggage rack was removed, and then the seats, and finally, the armrest was taken apart. “A combination spreader was then used to open the side paneling wide enough that the person could finally be freed from his predicament after about an hour and a half.”
The situation took so long that the train company hung a privacy curtain over the carriage. The stuck person was trapped for more than half an hour. Other passengers had to be evacuated, and a replacement service was used.
I can guarantee, too, that despite the whole situation being hilarious, not a single German uttered even the slightest chuckle. This is serious business for serious people.