Billy the Fish

Just a little reminder of how sheltered is existence in modern America. It's the story of how a journalist team sneaked into Siberia to expose North Korean slave labor camps. Modern Siberia is lawless to an extent that makes the American Old West seem like a sophisticate soiree. The team eventually found what they were after, courtesy of their Russian mafia guide, Billy the Fish:

At the first camp we found, the North Korean guards threatened us and tried to throw us out. Billy the Fish laughed—a great gold-toothed guffaw—and then smiled. “This is Russia,” he growled, eyes glinting. Motioning to the vast expanses around him, he declared, “This is mine.” Then to our camera crew, “Keep shooting. They can do nothing.” So we did.

Later, when we were deep in the forest, we came upon cadres of North Korean workers. A group of them approached and quickly surrounded our truck. One of them was swinging an iron bar, looking like he was going to bash our imperialist brains in. Billy took it from him, looked at it, and remarked calmly, “This your lights-out switch?” Sniff. “You’re going to need more than that.” He smiled and chucked it into the forest.

They later fled the country, the modern version of the KGB hot their heels, and escaped... into China. It all sounds very exciting -- by which I mean I'll stick with my cushy office job. I discovered early in life that high adventure is highly overrated.