No. This story is not about life insurance. In general it has actually nothing to do with life insurance. But then again it sort of does. And weed.

Around ten years ago we went to Morocco with a friend, but on our way back, we realised that we hadn't been the smartest crayons in the box. While we did manage to buy very cheap Ryanair flights, we actually didn't really think about the fact that our flight was from Morocco - Dusseldorf Weeze (Germany) - home, and the layover in Weeze was, well, two days. But well, obviously we had time, so in this sense it didn't matter. We arrived in Weeze at around midnight, exited the airport, and then looked at each other, thinking what now? We saw a few buses in front of the airport, all about to leave within the next 20-30 minutes. There was a bus to Essen, a bus to Kiel, and then, there was a bus to Amsterdam.

The choice was sort of obvious one, and no, it wasn't Essen.

There was around 10 people on the bus. I was just smoking outside as I thought there was still time til' the bus took off. At some point the driver started the engine, followed by me trying to quickly finish my cigarette, followed by the driver exiting the bus fast telling me that..."no, no, don't hurry, there's time. Just take your time man, no hurry. " And no, he wasn't sarcastic. The bus driver was really, really friendly. Once we took off he asked each of the 10 people where we wanted to go exactly and he started driving. Five minutes in he said that if anyone wants to take a leak, or go to a supermarket, or go somewhere else for a moment, just tell the driver and he'll make a stop. Because, well, there's time. Sounded really friendly, and weird at the same time. Around half an hour later he asked everyone again where we wanted to go. And if we wanted to go to the supermarket, or take a leak. And an hour later again. Not that I really minded, but at some point it was pretty clear, he was a really friendly guy one way or another, but today he might have been even friendlier as he definitely had had some weed before.

Well, we arrived safely, and to be honest, I never had any doubt about that. Even though instead of three hours we managed to get there in two. But then again, it was a pretty empty bus.

Once we arrived in Amsterdam, we didn't really have any idea where to go next, but we did know that we wanted a beer. It was 2am. Most of the places were closed. But after asking around, we did manage to find a bar called San Fransisco. The bar was full, we had big backpacks and there was a big bouncer on the door. So we weren't too sure we could actually get in, or even fit in with our bags. But we did. Before letting us in the bouncer said nicely - "When you're leaving, don't forget to tip the bouncer." Which, upon leaving later on, we actually did, more than happily.

The bar was supposed to be open until 5am or something, but as a few drunken sailors (or one old drunk lady) started causing problems there, at around 4am the bartender shouted out loud "Everyone, get the fuck out of here!" I don't think I have never heard anyone saying something like that in a nicer manner. But we had to empty the bar anyway.

Now, it was 4am and everything really seemed to be closed. Bars I mean. I guess we could have found something else in Amsterdam, but no. And we didn't want to get a hotel yet either. To pay for a couple of hours of sleep didn't make much sense. It was November, so it wasn't the warmest, but we decided to stay outside until the next place opens. Two American girls joined us as well, in waiting. They were doing pretty much the same we were. At some point a guy on a bike passed us by, asking if we wanted any weed or any other thinkable drug. We said no. And then he asked if he could have a cigarette. For a moment I forgot we had left Morocco.

At 6am a new pub opened. My friend got a vodka, I got a beer, and a second, don't remember what the girls had. After the drinks we found a Coffee Shop, I think it was called Barney's. We went there, got a coffee and the cheapest joints they had. Had we felt richer, we could have maybe gone for some good weed instead, maybe, but we decided to go for the cheapest and potentially the worst.

I remember sitting in the Coffee Shop, there was nobody in but our company. At some point I asked my friend if one of the American girls is really talking about nothing whatsoever, saying out random words non-stop, or is it me? My friend listened to her for a moment and said, nope, it's definitely not me. The other American girl was acting sort of like an annoyed autistic child, moving his heard up and down, up and down, all the time. My friend, compared to those two, seemed to be okay. Except for one thing - he kept asking for the time about every other minute. And me? Well, I just felt people were walking past me all the time. But you might remember - there were no other customers there at that time in the morning.

At around 9am we decided to leave and finally get a hotel to get some sleep. At 9.30am I got the first and so far the last such phone call from my bank. The asked me if I had ever thought about buying life insurance. I told them nope, I don't even have a job now, and told them they could call me back in 6 months if they really wanted to. That was around 10 years ago. They never did. But the phone call couldn't have come at a better time - coming from Morocco, going to Amsterdam, not sleeping, drinking, smoking. And weirdly enough, they couldn't have known that. Even if they had broken some privacy laws and checked my account details, they couldn't have found anything, as we always paid cash for everything, including the bus ticket to Amsterdam. Go figure.