How Times Change
As I wrote my post the other day about Ben Innes, the chap with the rictus grin, posing for a 'selfie' with a suspected suicide bomber I thought of events at Glasgow Airport back in 2007 when those caught up in terrorist incident got 'stuck in' instead of cuddling up to the bad guys.
John Smeaton, for example, the airport baggage handler, who put the boot in, quite literally, rather than reaching for his smart phone.
Here's what John had to say to the news media shortly after the terrifying incident:
“I had just come out for my fag. I was actually smoking round the side of the building.
“That’s when I heard the commotion, all the noise, and then I just walked out to see what was happening.
“I just remember people were all moving away, then they all started running back towards the terminal.
“I walked along and I turned left and saw the Jeep crashed into the building.”
Smeaton watched as Abdulla, 29, an Iraqi junior doctor, got out of the vehicle and started attacking the police.
“Next thing I know, I saw a guy coming out of the passenger side. All I remember is he was throwing his jacket off,” he said.
“Then he went to the rear of the vehicle. As he got to the rear, police officers came across and the guy just started attacking a police officer.
“He was flinging punches, flinging hundreds of punches like a prize fighter.
“Before I knew it, I was just charging in – it was just pure adrenaline, I was just thinking: ‘Get the bastard ‘.
“I didn’t know at that time it was a terrorist attack. It was just the guy attacking the police officer.”
Smeaton recalled how he then ran in and kicked Abdulla, dodging a punch by a matter of inches.
“I just snapped, I just totally and utterly snapped.
“He flung a punch at me and I stuck my leg out to kick him.”
Describing Abdulla at that moment, Smeaton remembered: “He was mental, the guy was just going mental.
“It’s hard to describe the man, he was just going nuts, flinging punches.
“All I remember him saying was ‘Allah’, he kept mentioning ‘Allah’.”
So, I take my hat off to John wherever he is these days - I'd rather have him at my back than a health and safety auditor with a smart phone, any day of the week.
Rictus Grin (30/03/16)
Embarrassingly, the chap in this photograph with the rictus grin has a connection with Scotland: Ben Innes is a health and safety auditor, apparently, and lives in Aberdeen although he hails originally from Leeds.
In any event, Ben was caught up in the hijacking of an Egyptian plane which ended up in Cyprus, courtesy of some lovelorn idiot wearing a fake suicide vest while pretending to be a terrorist.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper (who else?) Ben explained his pride in the unexpected 'holiday' snap.
“I’m not sure why I did it, I just threw caution to the wind while trying to stay cheerful in the face of adversity. I figured if his bomb was real I’d nothing to lose anyway, so took a chance to get a closer look at it.
“I got one of the cabin crew to translate for me and asked him if I could do a selfie with him. He just shrugged OK, so I stood by him and smiled for the camera while a stewardess did the snap. It has to be the best selfie ever."
But what I don't get is how can it be a 'selfie' if he didn't take the photo himself?
