Richter is the pin-puller. He pulls the pins. He isn't responsible for anything after that, so you'd best step lively when he hands it to you and asks you to sign on the line. Accountability uber alles, he says, and he has a point. So just sign for the fucking thing. You have 3-7 seconds to accomplish this simple task, and that of making it go 20 meters away from you. 5 meters will probably do, but you will at that point be out of warranty.
This is a family tradition. Richter's grandfather pulled the ordnance arming pins at 20,000 feet, back in '44. After that, the ordnance was the Germans' problem. The Germans are very brave and thorough people, but they do not think fast in situations like that; It did not end well.
