Behind the scenes #12 Doppelgänger?

One moment a blessed honeymoon, one moment nightmares of Identity Fraud…?

I look at my watch. Thirty minutes already? What is going on? Extra security? Why? Abruptly, I’m sent to a separate counter. My passport gets scanned three times. Simple control questions turn into something that feels like an interrogation. 

Tuesday, we arrived in Australia! My first thought: what a fantastic country. As a kid, I always saw on TV how strict they are at the airport. Just to be safe, I didn’t buy any samurai swords in Thailand. Fair enough—I get it, this place is a paradise!

A coastal walk along beautiful beaches in Sydney. Somehow, a strange feeling though—almost as if someone is watching me. Or maybe that’s just the female beachgoers? To survive 36 degrees (in December!), we alternate with boxing and a favorite Haitsma holiday activity: the casino.

My wife gets a membership within 30 seconds. I got sent to extra security. “ Oh no… please don’t tell me there’s a note from Macau saying we left the roulette table like we robbed the place. Questions after questions. Dutch? Living in Finland? How long do you stay? My wife looks at me from a distance with the same face when we’re watching a boxing undercard. How long is this going to take?

For a second, I wonder if I’m being pranked. Are they testing my patience? They picked the wrong guy… Then comes the question: “Have you changed your name?” “What?” “You’re already in the system.” “Huh?” “This is my first time in Australia—and also the first time I ever walked into a branch of this casino chain.” Ten minutes of silence and suddenly: approval.

Confused, I ask where all these questions came from. “We already have another Nick Haitsma in the system. We thought maybe you were impersonating him.” Mate what? 

I can already hear my old schoolteachers thinking: Oh no, there’s another Nick Haitsma? What are the odds? And what are the odds that he also visited this casino? Does he also like boxing? Is he from around here? Can he recommend a good Chinese restaurant? Does he also use his grandma’s lucky number when things go bad—only to be saved at the very last moment to walk out as if he were part of the Ocean’s Eleven crew?