Unexpected baggage fees can sting like a squirt of citrus in your eye. But four travelers teamed up to make lemonade out of lemons–actually orange juice out of oranges–after being faced with exorbitantly higher baggage fees to transport their oranges home. 30 minutes later, they had downed 66 pounds of oranges.
Baggage Fees + Oranges Don’t Mix In China
The incident occurred at Kunming Airport (KMG) in China’s Yunnan Province. Mr. Wang and his three colleagues had pooled their resources to purchase a 30-kilogram (66 pound) box of oranges during a business trip to Kunming and now wished to take it home to their families.
But during check-in for their flight, they were informed that the fee to transport the oranges would be 300CNY (~46USD). That was too high a price tag for their beloved oranges so they decided to have a party. Mr. Wang told the Global Times:
“We just stood there and ate the whole thing up. It took about 20-30 minutes.”
Sadly, they failed to consider the consequences of such a citrus overload. Soon after completing their impressive consumption, all four started to suffer from ulcers in their mouths.
Per Mr. Wang:
“We never want to have any oranges again.”
No kidding. Next time, perhaps spread them out over your carry-on bags?
As someone who loves fresh-squeezed orange juice, this story is a valuable lesson to me!
Orange you glad it wasn’t you?
Wow! I thought the baggage fees were like $300 worth, not $46. I can see most people here in the US just pay that baggage fee and think of it as a lesson and move on.
Matthew, orange you clever!
I suppose $46 is a significant amount given the average celery in China. So, they had no choice: thyme and tide wait for no man!
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
So once on a trip to visit my mother in law in Loma Linda, my wife and I raided the orange and tangerine trees in her backyard, enough to fill an entire suitcase. Fortunately we were flying Southwest, so the baggage fee issue was moot. We enjoyed fresh squeezed juice for a few weeks with that haul…
I call shenanigans. That’s 16lbs per person. Even if you discount the box and the rinds, that’s like 12lbs…each.
Could be Would be a sugar overload too!
Not thinking clearly…. they could have made about 2.5gallons of fresly squeezed OJ and find some vodka or sparkling wine for a party!
I like this idea
Reminds me of a story my coworker told me.
He was on a family trip to Italy and one of the family members bought a prosciutto leg without realizing he couldn’t bring it back into the US. They ended up sitting outside of customs and served out the expensive ham to everyone who wanted some.
“Mr. Wang”
LOL
Grow up.
People love freshly squeezed orange juice: it’s an instant, dramatic hit of sugar…minus the benefits of the fibre in the flesh. It’s one of the biggest ‘con jobs’ in the history of nutrition. Concentrated poison.
The BLTGQI community had it right, albeit for different reasons, when they boycotted OJ over some contretemps involving an anti-gay, 3rd string singer, whose name I don’t recall, who was the citrus queen/ industry spokesperson.
Anita Bryant was the spokesperson
They should have carried the most they could in their carry on baggage and pockets. Then eat some and give away some to others.
If they could carry 12 lbs., eat 12 lbs (2 lbs per person), they would not get mouth ulcers. Then give away 42 lbs. to others. If each person takes 2 lbs. then need to find 20-21 people. If needed, taxi drivers in the line will probably want some.
Just make a sign. Perhaps, “FREE Oranges. Too many to fit in luggage.”
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