Looking For Charlie In Amsterdam

Looking For Charlie In Amsterdam

There are a lot of shady looking characters who hang around Amsterdam. They silently wait by street corners and alleyways. Anyone who has lived in the city long enough knows how it works. Sometimes they quietly wait to be approached, other times they advance with out warning. However, they always ask the same question in the same hushed whisper. It’s a question I have been asked many times myself. It is only a single word but we all understand what they are asking…. “Charlie?”

Since my name is not Charlie and I don’t know anyone by that name I am never able to give them the information they seek so I simply shake my head and carry on walking, leaving them to ask the next passer by (which by the sounds of it they do a lot).

I often wonder who this Charlie is. Why is he so popular? Why have so many people decided to dedicate so much time in to searching for him? Does he owe them money? Is he a lost friend or relative? Could he be their missing leader or a secret spy contact? Why is he so important to them?

Whoever he is he is a very allusive man.

What about the people who spend all their days trying to find him. There are a lot of them who appear to have been looking for him for a very long time. Are their efforts combined or are they all searching for him for their own individual gain? Do they wake up every morning truly believing that today will be the day they finally find Charlie? Do they later return home, feeling crushing despair after yet another day of fruitless searching? What keeps them going? How long will they be able to continue their search?

They have been unsuccessful in their quest for such a long time. It is finally time for us to aid them in their search for this mysterious man. It is obviously very important that he is found (otherwise they would have given up by now). This is why I am setting up the ‘Help Find Charlie’ appeal.

Do you know anything about this Charlie they seek? Maybe you have seen him, maybe you are friends with him or maybe you even are him. Any information you can provide, no matter how small, might help us find Charlie.

If you wish to show your support for the appeal you can print out the poster provided below and display it somewhere that Charlie might see (or at least someone with information about him).

Looking for cocaine

At the moment we know absolutely nothing about Charlie or where he is but with a little hard work I am sure we can find him and end the search that has lasted for so long for so many shady looking people on the streets of Amsterdam.

Thank you for your support.

Stuart

Stuart is an accident prone Englishman who has been living in the Netherlands since 2001. Even his move to the country was an unintentional accident, the result of replying to a cryptic job advertisement he found one day in a local British magazine. Since then he has learned to love the Dutch (so much so that he married one of them) and now calls the country home. He started the blog Invading Holland in 2006 as a place to share his strange stories of language misunderstandings, cultural confusions and his own accident prone nature.

17 Responses

  1. Keith says:

    Charlie? Charlie? Oh, you mean THAT Charlie. I know him well, I saw him only yesterday in Berlin selling matches and condoms on the market in Linden Strasse. He left Holland y’know because of all the hassle he was getting from people who were looking for him.

  2. Stavanger says:

    Alright Sherlock, I think we got a case on our hand. You don’t think its about a convert military operation like alpha, bravo, charlie due to your elevator fighting experiences or SETA studing paranormal accident proneness?

  3. Oliveira says:

    Are you ENTIRELY sure it’s not “cocaine, ecstasy”? That’s what these strange men say to me… mind you, living in the Red Light District might affect their pronounciation…

  4. zed says:

    blimey, people in Hamsterdam are after my Ex ? Yes, he was and still is called Charlie, despite being Belgian. description:
    age: 47/48 (can’t remember)
    sex: male-ish
    height: errrr – 1m something
    weight: overweight but not fat
    hair: dark brown but greying
    eyes: two – dark brown
    race: belgian
    no distinguishing features at all.

  5. Emiel says:

    What if Charlie is someone’s imaginary friend? Even if we do find him, no one will be able to see him…

  6. Tess says:

    Is it Charlie or Chang? I didn’t realise it was that bad these days… What kind of areas do you visit Stu? :9

  7. VallyP says:

    haha Stu, don’t believe them! It’s all a hoax. They’re just using it as a chat up line…y’know chat up Charlie…at least that’s what they think is the right way to approach you…after all, this is Hamsterdam as Zoer says ;-)

  8. ChickyBabe says:

    Methinks Charlie is a redhead masquerading as a natural blonde…

  9. JaG says:

    Charlie, that’s my friend’s cat! No honestly!

  10. sophie says:

    haha! god stuart!! charlie is a word in code… didn’t you know??? sorry i cannot talk more about it or i will killed in seconds… “OUCH!!! don’t don’t do it…! aaaaaaagh”

  11. Invader Stu says:

    Keith – Are you sure it is the right Charlie? I’ve heard a lot of different theories lately inclusing the idea that they might be looking for Charlie Sheen.

    Stavanger – It could very well be a code name of some sort.

    Oliveira – I don’t know what you are talking about. It is a person they are looking for. I am sure of it :p

    Zed – I’ll check with them if he is indeed the person they are looking for.

    Emiel – Maybe he is a giant rabbit.

    Tess – Don’t go getting the wrong idea there :p

    VallyP – I hope they are trying to chat up Charlie and not me. Otherwise I will be very scared.

    ChickyBabe – I know the outline looks a little like me but I swear it is not :)

    JaG – Why would all these shady looking characters be looking for your friends cat?

    Sophie – Who does he work for?! Who does he work for?!

  12. zed says:

    please, please, stu, make sure it’s him that they’re looking for – he may be my Ex, but he’s doing my nut in!

  13. charlie says:

    charlie = cocaine

  14. Jake says:

    I bet you don’t find them near internet cafes.

    Why?
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    ’cause Charlie don’t surf!

    Bdum tish!

    Cue sound of tumbleweeds.

  15. suus says:

    yeah I know Charlie. He’s white, very white. He visits a lot of parties. Spends a lot of time in South-America, and for some reason likes to travel to Europe by boat. Also, Charlie is known to come out of an arse every now and then. Quite a charactar.