Once upon a time, about three months ago, James and I were looking to rent a flat. Because I am a planner and just a bit of a perfectionist, I had done months of realty research. Concluding my study, James and I decided that we wanted a flat with some character, perhaps a fireplace or crown molding, lots of light, two bedrooms (One for visitors, hint hint!), within a half mile to the metro station and in the Jesmond/West Jesmond area of Newcastle Upon Tyne. Since James started up school immediately, this left me, along with my parents, mother-in-law and brother-in-law, to find a flat. By the time we arrived in England, I had already searched every online letting site, been working with three different realtors and narrowed our choices to eight or nine different flats. Surely one would be livable!
Although completely exhausted due to the immigration fiasco the previous day, we started off the day on a high note, visiting the apartment we eventually let. I immediately saw potential. Although the Spaniard that previously lived there was messy and had some seriously questionable taste in decor (Who thinks pink, yellow and baby blue pillows should go on red couches?). The flat had everything we were looking for: huge windows which let in plenty of light, crown molding, a fireplace, two bedrooms, a washer/dryer, dishwasher, two bathrooms and a half mile walk to the nearest Jesmond metro station. Although it needed a good clean and was messy, I really liked the layout and could imagine making it our home. However, my flat viewing party was not quite as sold as I was.
Continuing our search, we saw multiple flats with major flaws. Neon yellow living rooms, kitchens without windows, creepy and dark hallways, tiny rooms with low ceilings, major traffic noise, smelly smoke and mold covered walls, were just a few of the major drawbacks. The more flats we saw, the more I fell in love with the first flat we viewed. After taking two cars to the last flat, there was a bit of a mix up. My mom and I had jumped in the car with the realtor as my dad, mother-in-law and brother-in-law jumped in a taxi to follow us. Basically, the taxi got lost and they could not find us. After some frustration, everyone decided they were done for the day. When James got home, I gave him the flat reviews and general analysis of our viewings. He immediately went online to see if there were any flats we overlooked and discovered a new listing that had potential. After calling the realtor, and discovering the next viewing time was two days away, we took matters into our own hands. We decided to go have a look from the outside and maybe peek in the windows.
Upon arrival, we told the taxi driver to wait, as we would only be a couple minutes. We rang the doorbell and no one answered. The flat was on the ground floor and the curtains to the large front windows were open. The living room looked nice, but we could not see the kitchen, bedrooms or bathroom, so we decided to go around to the side of the flat, only to find a locked gate! Most people would have given up... not James and Stephanie Pearson! I suggested seeing if there was a gate on the other side of the building, so that we could go around the other way, across the back of the property. As we went to the side of the building I glanced in at the neighboring flat's kitchen; it looked nice! I was secretly hoping the kitchen was identical to the flat we had come to look at, when I discovered there was no gate, but there was a bedroom with a large window. I peeked in and to my horror saw an automatic machine gun lying on a white bed, in plain sight!!!!!
Of course I freaked out a little, went into panic mode and squeaked, "Okay Jimmy, it is time to go". He was tootling around, looking into the kitchen as I briskly walked past him. I was near the front of the property, next to the large front window, when I turned around again and said, "Jimmy, we have to go, now!". I noticed a middle aged man in a turban peek through the window curtains about two feet from me. James, sensing the urgency in my voice followed as I basically ran to the taxi. As we we slammed the doors of the taxi, I told James what I had seen. He asked if I was sure it was an automatic machine gun, not just a toy. I was absolutely sure. We had just been to Las Vegas in June, and had gone to the shooting range to try out some automatic weapons. It looked just like the M4 I had felt so rebellious shooting. I told him about the man in the turban, how he definitely saw me up close and was probably going to kill me now for what I had seen.
Arriving back at the Jesmond Dene House Hotel, we met up with my parents for afternoon tea. Still a bit shaken up, I told them what happened. Everyone agreed that I needed to call the police. What if the man was planning an act of terrorism or was some crazy person about to shoot into a crowd? James called the police for me, and less than an hour later two officers showed up to take a formal statement. Just keep in mind, I had only been in the United Kingdom for two days; I already had a run in with immigration and now a potential terrorist! The officers who took my formal statement asked for a detailed account of what happened along with many follow-up questions. After about an hour they called more police in to question both James and me. They said they had all the information they needed and there would probably be a SWAT team raiding the flat later that evening. The police assured me that if I had to testify in court against the terrorist, they would put a screen up so the terrorist could not see me. I reminded them, that the terrorist had ALREADY seen me up close and personal, and would recognize me; I was sure! It was about this time, my mother threw up her hands and said "We are going back to California! I've had enough of the UK interrogation and terrorism!" The police calmly assured her that Jesmond was very safe, and all was well as we had another cup of tea, and my dad had scotch. On a side note, I think we were the most exciting thing to happen at that hotel in many, many years! The staff and patrons were quite curious as to what these Americans were up to!
Exhausted and frightened, we decided to have an early dinner and get some sleep. At dinner, I definitely indulged in my fair share of wine and was ready for sleep when we arrived back at the hotel. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the police. I couldn't help but notice the stares from other hotel guests as the police asked to speak with me. After being pulled aside, the police informed me that they had sent in the Newcastle SWAT team to assess the situation. They found the gun I had described! However, after questioning the man I had seen peering out the window and a visit from a gun expert, they discovered that the gun was not an automatic weapon. Apparently there is some craze, where people act out their favorite Sci-Fi thrillers, running around their flats, shooting at each other with air soft guns. They said that his gun was not a typical air soft gun, because the owner had taken off the tell tale orange marker of a fake gun to make his look more realistic! Even the SWAT force couldn't tell if it was real or not, which is why they had to call in the gun expert.
The good news is that James and I are not on some terrorist hit list. However, I am still a little embarrassed that I caused such a commotion. Everyone keeps saying, it is better to be safe than sorry. What if the gun was real, and the man was plotting some mass murder? Living in our day and age, its hard to tell the difference in a "Treky" toy and an automatic weapon. I'm just happy the United Kingdom let me in before all this happened! I'm sure they are thinking, "WHY did we let this crazy American girl in our country?".
On that note, I think it is safe to say, unless we have another toy gun incident, we are still OK in the UK!! (Hurray!)
