August 31
PORTLAND, Ore. — Thousands of bomb-sniffing dogs nationwide are now out of work as airport security focuses its attention away from the relatively minor threat explosives pose, toward the more pressing threat brought on by lip gloss and moisturizers.
Thanks to Wilhelm McShane, however, many of these dogs are not going to be queueing up at the unemployment lines. Due to a stenography error nearly 30 years ago, McShane became an expert at training dogs to sniff out unconventional substances, something he is now very thankful for.
“They all laughed at me. Ultimately I lost my job over it,” McShane said, sitting in the swing on his front porch. “It wasn’t my fault I missed the meeting that day and got an inaccurate job request. How was I to know they meant ‘bomb’-sniffing dogs? The job request form very clearly said ‘balm-sniffing dogs,’ and that’s what I gave them.”
When asked if he’d go back to work, nearly 30 years after his dismissal, McShane said that he had decided to let bygones be bygones and do what’s best for his country.
“If the safety of the country depends on me, who am I to turn them down because of a hurt ego?” said McShane, as he sipped from his lemonade. “But look who’s laughing now,” he added with a gleam in his eye.
