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Is Mickey Raising a Stink?

By Larry

I saw this story earlier in the week and decided against posting it. But, it keeps showing up so I may as well jump on the band wagon.

Orlando stinks.

According to Customs and Border Protection, the Orlando airport stinks from dead rats. Apparently, this is not an "Oh, yuck" kind of stink. Rather, the stench has caused CBP personnel and passengers to get sick. Thankfully, the building has been cleaned.

Hmmm, rats in the Orlando airport. What could cause that? An obvious problem is that airports are giant food courts and there must be plenty of rat-friendly garbage around. Plus, Orlando is a destination for kids, meaning that more food is likely dropped on the ground than one would normally expect.

But, I think there is something more important happening here. This is--after all--an airport. What if Orlando is a destination for rats? Is it possible that the rats are sneaking onto flights from all over the world with the express intention of getting to Orlando?

This may sound far-fetched; but it is not. Think about who else lives in Orlando. If you were a lowly street rat in New York, or London, or Tokyo, who would you think might be able to help you out of your tough straits? I have a theory that a rat might seek out its cousin the Mouse who has made good. The Mouse probably can hand out a few patronage jobs and probably has a few extra dollars to spread around. I picture Mickey Mouse acting like the Tony Soprano of the rat world.

That, I think is why Orlando stinks from dead rats. Some probably owed Mickey some money. Others probably looked at Minnie the wrong way. One or two might have tried to work for Donald Duck and got themselves rat-whacked by Mickey's crew.

Its tough being a rat in the Mouse's world.

Full post as published by Customs Law on March 22, 2008 (boomark / email).