3)The Mistaken Identity

A man boards a train from Leeds. He is a lowly clerk and he was always  treated badly by his seniors because he was simple, slow at his work, dedicated  and honest, and he did not know where else he could go. On that day, having had to board the train in a hurry, a lot many of his senior officers got up on his end of the Common Class Compartment instead of the First Class Compartments. It was his uncle Harry's birthday and his wife had made him put on his best suit for the purpose. Just then a few men ran along with the speeding train and having jumped into the compartment started immediately comparing a photograph available with them against the many faces of the office going crowd. One of them saw him, pushed aside a sea of grumbling, startled people, stood respectfully in front of him and asked him, "Mr. Hossenburger ?" How could they be talking to him. His German ancestry was the butt of many jokes during his school, college and now office days. He tried to live a peaceful life in supposed obscurity always imagining that  the  Immigration Officials would deport him for his father's  illegal immigrant past. But Oh No! It did so obviously seem that they were talking to him. "Are you talking to me?", he asked just to be certain. "Minister, your habit of avoiding your security people is bound to get you into trouble. You must realise that we have a job to do!", the tall heavily muscled bodyguard growled. His face contorted every now and then, as if he would bite Mr. Hossenburger if he were only permitted to do so. There were many passengers who travelled with him daily and now they seemed to be giving him strange looks. He felt like a criminal and he bent his head down in shame. At the same time a warning bell had been ringing in his mind. He thought he heard them calling him 'Minister'. Maybe the last expression of respect before the final act of Deportation. Just then one of his co-passengers walked up to him and having stared at his face for a while declared in a jubilant voice, " Well I'd be a mother's... It is him for sure"  And now that he was certain that he had caught the attention of everybody, he pointed at our hero and declared in stentorian splendor, "it is Mr.Hossenburger in person. He has been travelling with us for the past so many years just so he could know about our hardships. He has lived like one of us just so he could know how we live. He has been working like one of us so he could know what we are really going through. Three cheers for Mr.Hossenburger! Hip- Hip ...?"  And the whole compartment roared in unison "Hip - hip hurray!" , while Mr.Hossenburger's seniors stared in stupefied amazement. Our Hero realised then that there had been a very unfortunate case of mistaken identity. He smiled at the guards and every other passenger and softly said," I do hope you all realise that there has been a terrible mistake. I am not who you think I am. I am like all of you. I am one of you. I am you !" That did it. The whole compartment stamped their feet over and over again, and "Vote for Mr.Hossenburger"reverberated all around.

In a First Class Compartment of a train to Cincinnati, one Mr.Hossenburger who claimed to be a  Minister, was trying desperately to explain to the Ticket Checker why a Minister should be travelling by a Train, without a ticket, had boarded the wrong train, without security personnel and without his Briefcase. He was obviously thrown out in-between two stations when the train had slowed down  a bit.