On site
After Kim Kardashian comes the Federal Minister of Finance: Christian Lindner was in the mood for jokes at the OMR digital trade fair. But many visitors quickly no longer feel like laughing – and quickly leave the hall.
And it all started so glamorously. When Christian Lindner steps onto the biggest stage at the OMR digital trade fair, I still feel like laughing. Because the day before, the world-famous influencer Kim Kardashian had entered the same stage with the same music, swinging her hips and wearing a skin-tight dress. Now it’s the FDP’s finance minister in the suit.
Five huge screens show his delighted face in close-up. He seems to be in a good mood and is in the mood to joke. “The OMR used to be small and the FDP was big, now it’s the other way around,” he jokes, earning laughter.
Lindner speaks in loud, practiced sentences with an extremely clear intonation, as if he were in the Bundestag. He says he didn’t want to talk about finances today. But about artificial intelligence. “Germany must not miss out on an innovation again,” he says.
Stink bomb at Lindner’s appearance?
The first people get up and leave. I’m a bit surprised. Lindner’s tone sounds a bit accusatory, yes. But does that mean you leave the room straight away? Silly.
But the audience seems to see it differently. More and more people in the back rows grimace in disgust and stand up. I have to laugh at the looks on their faces, which look like there’s a rotten rat dynasty lying on the stage. And then I smell it too.
A foul smell hits my nose. I suppress the urge to gag, and the person sitting next to me seems to be feeling the same way. She looks at me with her eyes wide in horror. “Barf,” I whisper. “Spit,” she says.
More and more people are putting their hands over their mouths and leaving the room in droves; I’m staying put for now. A mistake. The gag reflex returns with force with the next breath. My eyes start to water. The person sitting next to me jumps up, his hand over his mouth. “Something’s wrong,” someone says.
Everyone leaves, only Christian Lindner remains
I hear Lindner say “artificial intelligence” as if from far away when I feel dizzy and quickly grab my bag from the floor and have to run outside to avoid throwing up.
Next to me, the other visitors are leaving the hall in droves. The foul smell follows us outside. Even the bouncers still smell it.
In the crowd that has now gathered in front of the doors, everyone agrees: Something is really wrong here. “Someone must have thrown a stink bomb into the air conditioning,” says one. “Probably more of a vomit bomb,” says another. “Could they be whoopee cushions?” asks a woman.
The hall has now almost completely emptied. Only one person cannot be deterred. Christian Lindner. How he manages to do that with that smell is a mystery to me. Apparently even a stink bomb can be a thorny opportunity.
OMR employees do not want to comment on the smell. A person who is supposed to remain unrecognized reveals a little later: They were probably stink bombs. An OMR spokeswoman later confirmed this. A medical service checked the stink bomb and classified it as harmless to health. It is unclear who made the nasty joke.
You have to give Christian Lindner one thing: he can suppress his gag reflex well.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
