Hello Everyone!
This is an unforgettable story that I cannot help but share!
It was time for another trip to the nearest district center for supplies, and I decided to take some photos to share with the #MarketFriday community.
Usually, I don't take my smartphone with me when I go out, as I switch my SIM card to an old Nokia phone for security reasons. But since the Nokia phone doesn't have a camera, I took my smartphone in a hurry.
My whole family, including friends and our child, arrived at the end of the market's working hours, and we were leisurely shopping and taking photos while strolling with the stroller. I was taking pictures of my child, the market's surroundings, and my wife.
Our friends went off to buy products for themselves, and my wife went to buy the items on our list. I stood at the intersection of the rows, took my child out of the stroller, and photographed her playing with the goods on the counter.
I didn't pay attention to the worried look on my wife's face or the two cops heading towards me, as they didn't seem suspicious.
The rest is routine. They introduced themselves, explained the situation...
It turns out that during the wartime, frightened market vendors called the police, fearing that I was taking pictures for enemy intelligence... of the market in our village!
The police were already there with the military, who were aware of similar reports to the police.
They started checking our phones.
At this time, emboldened vendors and passersby began to gather around us and shout curses, accusing us of "working for the enemy" and wishing us death!
There were no photos of military or strategic objects in our galleries, nor were there any coordinates of military locations in our messenger apps, but the police still had to take us to the station to copy our phone books...
Let me tell you, it was an extremely unpleasant procedure when strangers were scrutinizing your smartphone for incriminating evidence against you. During wartime, the right to private property was abolished, and arguing was pointless. The military could confiscate a car for army needs, let alone look into our phones or conduct a search...
We were all held in the local police station for four hours, despite having a young child, while they checked our phones, but they acted professionally.
In the end, the story had a positive outcome. We were back home by evening, and our child's mental state was not affected.
We could have been tied to a pole with duct tape and beaten by passersby, or interrogated more harshly, taking into account the wartime situation... There is plenty of evidence of this on the internet.
The crowd that has lost control is a terrible element! And the human brain is very prone to propaganda!
That's what our markets are like in Ukraine! And the scales in the candy box are from the Soviet era and production!
What an unpleasant thought being accused of being a collaborator. So glad it turned out okay in the end.
The situation is not the best and on the verge of absurdity, but it's good that everything worked out! Believe me, it could all end very sadly with very severe consequences.
Luck has helped
Thank you for the visit!
Well, that is scary! I haven't heard that happen to anyone, but, I have heard people from all over the world worry about it happening to them. I am so sorry to hear this and so very sorry this happened to your family. In a small village like that, it surprises me that people would turn on you like that! Do they not know you? :(
I speak from a place of ignorance. I have never been in your position and I am so very sorry.
My thoughts go out to you and your family.
We left our little village that day to buy in the market of the nearest regional center. Yes, they don’t know us there, but they don’t have to know everyone by sight.
Of course, at that moment I was also scared, but it was important not to show it to my girls.
My wife suffered a lot of stress, she, unlike me, never faced such situations. Yes, and I found myself in them at a more carefree age, when I was not yet burdened with responsibility for my family.
It is good that this situation did not affect the child, except for a late dinner and the lack of daytime sleep that day.
The worst thing that can be in this world is people, a maddened crowd. In any non-standard situation, it is better to keep your family away from crowds of strangers.
Thank you for your attention to my incident
I wish you a good day!
when I read about you leaving your smartphone, that got me curious and reading on made me held my breath! Such an unpleasant experience while shopping! and this would have been a traumatic experience for any child. Good to hear that somehow he/she was alright in the end. Does this happen to you pretty often when you go to the market?
This is the first time this has happened to me!
We were as focused as possible on making the child feel comfortable throughout the proceedings! We made it. For my 2 year old daughter, it turned out to be like a game, she liked a lot of new strangers.
As it turned out in the end, my wife suffered the most mentally. She had never been in such situations before, and unlike a child, she was aware of the degree of possible danger hanging over us at that moment!
And of course, the frenzy of the crowd and the curses against us hurt her more than all of us