How often does one cite a snake crawling inside a scooter as a reason for being late for a meeting? Not very often — but that was precisely what a real-estate salesperson surnamed Chou (周) said on Monday after he found himself stranded and unable to get back to his office for a meeting.
The 30-year-old Chou, an assistant project manager at a real-estate company, said on Wednesday that when he was on a business outing in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Tucheng District (土城) with two colleagues, just as they concluded their business and were about to get on their scooters, one colleague shouted: “A snake just darted into your scooter.”
Chou called 119 for help and two firefighters from the New Taipei City Fire Department arrived on the scene to find that a snake was hiding behind the front cover of the scooter.
Photo: Li Chung-hsien, Taipei Times
Chou borrowed tools to remove the cover of the scooter and found the snake was curled around the central column. Due to the lines and pipes curled around the column, the firefighters were unable to remove the snake.
Chou said he was forced to call the office and tell his supervisor he would not be able to make it to the meeting because his scooter had a snake in it.
“Are you sure? This excuse is ridiculous,” Chou quoted his supervisor as saying.
Photo: Li Chung-hsien, Taipei Times
Chou’s supervisor finally accepted the excuse after Chou’s colleagues backed him up.
Chou said he and the firefighters spent more than an hour taking the scooter apart and that they finally removed the snake, a young keeled ratsnake, after removing the bottom casing of the scooter.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writ
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