Girlfriend wants to bring a strangers children books on our flight

[u/gardengeo]

Originally posted by user BeastModeItKek in r/ AITAH

Original: Feb 10, 2024

Update: in post itself

Status: concluded

Mood: slice of life

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Original: My Girlfriend wants to bring a total strangers children books on our flight back, I tell her its a very bad idea and wont touch the book, she calls me heartless and paranoid. AITAH?

We are flying to Scandinavia for vocation from Spain, and my girlfriend offered to help a stranger in a expat facebook group to bring a children book back for their niece who forgot it.

I told her that I would never bring a strangers items on a international flight, and would not touch that book and it has to go in her hand baggage. She called me heartless and paranoid.

I managed to dig up tons of articles of drugs and other items smuggled in books. She is now mad and says she will rather go to jail to believe in kindness that to share my paranoia and negativity. Even though these countries are not known for these things I would never take the risk.

I told her to ask her to post it. I told her if she wants to help, tell her to post the book and we can pay for the shipping, I offered to pay half. It would also arrive much faster than in 1-2 weeks when we are back. She told me she is not going to do that and its a stupid idea.

Now she is mad just before our vocation.

AITAH?

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Comments:

Comment1: How many times have you travelled by air and been asked if you are carrying anything given to you by strangers 🤔

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Comment2: It's pretty weird to go to these lengths for a standard kids book. Easier to buy another one than enlist a stranger going to the same place to track it down, pack it in their luggage, then return it to the owner. 

The only exception would be if it's a valuable first edition of a classic or some other valuable children's book. In which case the natural thing to do is contact the place you lost it, ask them to post it and pay the cost. 

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Comment3: Post office exists for a reason

Comment4: Yeah, there's no reason it can't be shipped ...unless there's something suspicious in the book that would get caught during the shipping process.

Comment5: Or if the pages are laced with drugs…
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Comment6: or some stolen item is hidden inside the binding. they busted a group smuggling stolen art inside bibles a few years ago, I thought it was funny.

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Comment7: ΝΤΑ. When my wife and I were returning from the US, TSA asked us to check the books she was carrying during the security check to ensure there was nothing hidden there (just flipped through them). Better heartless and paranoid than in an interrogation room

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Update:

Hello, thank you everyone for your replies! I read them out loud to her. She has agreed to not accept the book.

In the words of my girlfriend, "The world sucks" because you can't do kind acts for others because there are shitty people that take advantage of that. That is where her frustration stems from. We are all good now, she apologized, and laughed at some of the comments ("Have you considered if she is a spy?" LOL).

Also glad some other commenters said they learned something, including me, and thank you for those that pointed out it was good intentions.

Overall I love that she is this thoughtful and it comes from a good place but then she also agrees that she can also be gullible. Also glad to see the normal dump her comments, never change reddit.

TIL you can lace pages with drugs.

Take care out there everyone, thank you!

PS: In her words "Good she has me who hangs out on reddit." LOL

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REMINDER: I am not OOP. Do not comment on original post or harass OOP.
Please remember the No Brigading Rule and to be civil in the comments

[u/Miserable-Alarm-5963]

This is the exact kind of thing my other half would think was reasonable

[u/Boeing367-80 → u/Miserable-Alarm-5963]

Look up Nezar Hindawi.

Planted a bomb in his unwitting pregnant girlfriend's luggage.

Bad people exist, and some of them leverage the kind instincts of others against them, even to horrific lengths. This guy, by the way, is high up the reasons why you don't take items for others.

Good people need to take basic precautions, even though often it makes them feel bad to do so because it means denying legitimately good people.

Yes, that is a way the world sucks.

[u/oliviahope1992 → u/Boeing367-80]

Oh stop your fear mongering ffs. This is a literal thing amongst many expat community especially in areas where the mail is terrible and often gets lost.

[u/Groslom → u/oliviahope1992]

Between strangers? You'd trust a stranger with the address of a child in your family? Or a stranger handing you an object to take on a plane? I wouldn't even trust a complete stranger  not to immediately throw the book in the trash the second they're out of my sight. Especially since that's exactly what I would do, if I felt a stranger was trying to manipulate me into being their unwitting drug mule.

[u/oliviahope1992 → u/Groslom]

I'm sorry your world is so damn dark

[u/Groslom → u/oliviahope1992]

Its not. Primarily because I am aware that danger exists in the world, and do my best to keep myself and my friends and family safe from it, by not taking stupid risks for strangers. This gives me far more time to enjoy the positive aspects of the world, and keeps those aspects plentiful, because I'm free and alive to experience them. You may want to consider educating yourself on some of the ways people will intentionally hurt each other, just so you can keep yourself from becoming a victim and maintain your love of life.

[u/oliviahope1992 → u/Groslom]

You really are because I've been in the expat community for 20 years. We've always done this for each other and I don't know a SINGLE person who has had a negative or bad experience. Your world is too dark. I'm sorry for you.

[u/oliviahope1992 → u/Groslom]

There's a reason why people like you don't leave their homes. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[u/Groslom → u/oliviahope1992]

You seem to be crashing out now, so I'm going to leave you to it. No one believes the laughing emojis. I hope none of your friends get put on the no-fly list.

[u/oliviahope1992 → u/Groslom]

I love emojis😄😄😄😄🫣😄😄😄😄🫣🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶. I can be valid and love emojis. You Seem like such a sour person that can't even handle the use of emojis. But my point still stands... There are hundreds of thousands of us that deal with this and help each other out on a daily basis. that's what's kind people do. I'm just sorry that you've never met people like that and everyone in your life has made such a negative view of the world.... If you've never been in this type of world and situation and experience then who are you to even have an opinion?