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Mission Society missionaries in Asia shared this story:

Some of our friends have foster children, one of which wanted to visit some relatives in a village a few hours away. When they told friends they were going to that particular village, the friends warned them to stay away from there because that place is “full of hooligans, drunks, and cowboys.” They replied that it was the hooligans they were specifically going to see!

The morning of their trip, the road was closed due to ice. So they purchased three train tickets instead for a long-distance train which made a brief stop in the village. As they approached the village, they went to one end of the train car to disembark. However, there was no attendant there to open the door.

They quickly realized the train was only stopping for a minute or two, so they ran down to the other end where a young conductor stood. “Open the door, please! This is our stop!” they cried.

As the conductor asked them why they hadn’t got off at the other end, the train began to move forward and leave the little station. Alarmingly, they shouted, “Please stop the train! We need to get off!” Rather than pulling the emergency red stop lever, the train attendant simply opened the door of the now moving train and said flatly, “Please.”

Like paratroopers, the three of them jumped out of the accelerating train and splattered like bowling pins on the icy platform. As the last car sped away into the snow, a scene of scattered gloves, hats, purses, backpacks, and people was left behind.

Thankfully, although a bit bruised and battered, none of them was hurt seriously.

When sharing the story with the “hooligans” who soon arrived to meet them, they were met with a response of, “Oh, we jump off the train all the time!”