Lady forgets to declare sandwich at customs and is fined: ‘Most expensive sandwich ever’ | Abroad

The story did not go unnoticed. It generated worldwide media attention. Eventually Subway also got wind of her story. The company gave her gift cards and sent stuff. Her family now calls her the “Subway girl,” Lee told the Washington Post. She calls her sandwich “the most expensive sandwich ever.”

The story started with a hungry Lee when she and her partner were on a journey of almost 13,000 kilometers from Greece via Singapore to Australia. And that made her “extremely hungry.” She went to the Subway for a sandwich, which she could take on the plane, she was told.

Once in Australia, she had completely forgotten that she still had her half-eaten sandwich in her bag, along with some chocolate. That meant she hadn’t filled in the correct crosses on the customs form. Violating the strict Australian rules could result in prosecution, the cancellation of your visa or, in the case of Read, a fine.

Viral

She posted a video on TikTok “so others wouldn’t make the same mistake.” It went viral. On Wednesday, it had already been viewed more than 1.3 million times. “My friends and family sent me articles of the news articles about me, while I was sitting there like, yes, I’m going around the internet because I’m an idiot,” she says with a laugh.

The Domino’s Pizza TikTok account tagged Subway in its video. Soon an employee of the sandwich company approached her. She couldn’t pay her fine, but she wanted to help, was the message. It earned her Subway gift cards worth 1812 euros, along with a box of branded items.

The incident did not harm Lee. A month ago, she decided to quit her job to start a career in social media. “I made a stupid mistake, but I was like, ‘You know what? This is going to be the moment where I continue in what I’m doing.” Her new followers are now worth more to her than the fine cost her.

—