In a revelation that could change very little and yet still remind us how unexpected life can be, a World War I hand grenade dating back more than a century was recently discovered hidden among a shipment of potatoes that apparently had a more explosive origin story than most root vegetables. The grenade, an unwelcome stowaway from the fields of Europe, was unearthed in Hong Kong by customs officers who presumably did not expect their day to include a brush with trench warfare memorabilia.
The shipment had traveled from France, though whether this was due to the grenade cultivating a love for Camembert or simply poor packing remains unclear. Fortunately, the device was found during a routine inspection and promptly defused by Hong Kong’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau, whose job is exactly as fun as it sounds but with significantly more risk to one’s eyebrows.
Officials said the grenade was a French-made F1 model, which was somewhat of a big hit during World War I, though not in the way modern society usually appreciates popularity. These grenades are recognizable by their pineapple-like exterior and their continued insistence on causing problems 100 years after retirement. It remains unexplained how this particular munition snuck into a bag of perfectly innocent potatoes, but one imagines at least one French farmer is nervously checking every shipment for stray artillery.
As always in such cases, the local bomb squad was able to safely dispose of the grenade, avoiding both explosions and the kind of headlines that include the words “potato disaster” and “military relic” in the same sentence.
Clearly, some French fries still come with a side of surprise.