The ski pass man...by Federico Marcaccini Pre-FCE 1 in town

I am going to tell you about a funny thing that happened to me last weekend. I was in the mountain after a tiring day of skiing. I was going for something to drink when an old man stopped me and asked me for help.

"What’s the matter?” I asked.
“I haven’t got any money to go back to my house.” he told me.

I looked at him pretty suspiciously, how could he ask for money if he had been skiing, which as everybody knows, is not a cheap activity? I couldn’t understand it, so I decided to ask him.

“If you could pay for the ski-pass, you should have some money.” I said to him.

“Of course that I should have some money but while I was skiing, I lost all my money in the slope,” he said.
I thought to myself that an old person like him had to be telling the truth, so I decided to give him some money for the bus ticket. However, as I took out my wallet, he said “Oh no, no. I couldn’t receive any money from a child like you.”
“Excuse me sir, didn’t you ask me for money?” I asked him
“I need money but I want to give you something in exchange, like this ski-pass to come to the mountain tomorrow,” he said.
I obviously accepted. I thought that he was a real gentleman because of his honest proposal. I gave him $30 for the bus-fare and then I continued my way to a café for something to drink.

As I was getting closer to the café, I saw the old man running as fast as a child. It was rather obvious that he was up to something so I decided to follow him. He was scuttling along like a rabbit and I had to run very fast to keep up with him. Finally he went into a pub and I saw him through a small window. He was edging his way through the crowd towards the bar.

When he reached it, he spoke to the barman. I saw his lips moving as he gave him his order. The barman turned back and put a smallish tumbler with some light brown liquid up to the brim on the bar. It was whisky! And it was only 6 pm! Then the old man put some money on the counter. It was at that moment that I realized that those $30 were the ones I had given to him! When he finished the whisky, he stood up and turned away from the bar, edging his way back through the crowd to where his jacket was hanging. He put it on and then he lifted a ski-pass that was hanging from another jacket. After that, he went out in a rush, and so I hurried myself to follow him back to the main place where I had first met him.

I watched him in astonishment as he proceeded to exchange his new pass for another $30! Then he ran away, but this time in the opposite direction...

I guess he never goes to the same pub twice!