I've done a lot of traveling this past year (twenty three round trip flights from Minneapolis to Kansas City, to be exact) and even though I haven't banked nearly as many frequent flyer miles as our friend The Elder has, I do think I qualify as an experienced traveller. Unfortunately, being an experienced traveller comes with the painfully heavy burden of becoming quickly and easily annoyed by the hordes of inexperienced travellers out there.
I ran across one of them at 6:00 this morning as I was attempting to pass through the security checkpoint. An unwashed 20-something chucklehead in front of me (let's call him Tad) did almost everything on my list of pet peeves in the security line. We had spent close to ten minutes waiting in that line and this little puke waited until he was at the very front to empty his pockets of metal and carefully place them in his coat pockets one by one. Then Tad takes his coat off, folds it very neatly and places it in the bucket.
On to the shoes he goes...bend over, unlace one, slip it off, stand up and into the bucket. Bend over, unlace the other, slip it off, stand up and into the bucket...all the while oblivious to the growing logjam behind him and the empty scanner machine in front of him.
A curtain of bright red rage was beginning to cloud my vision when, before even bothering to shove his crap into the gaping maw of the empty scanner, Tad pulls his ID out of his front pocket, pulls his wallet out of his back pocket, puts the ID into the wallet and puts the wallet back into his pocket. The word rage cannot explain the level I was on at that moment.
After finally finding his way through the metal detector (if that thing had gone off, I swear I would have tackled that filthy bastard) Tad proceeds to do his little philistine polka all over again but in reverse. I somehow managed to wedge myself in enough to quickly grab my laptop, bags and shoes and then I headed to the nearest chair (far enough away from the congested security checkpoint SO I WOULDN'T BE AN OBSTACLE TO THOSE BEHIND ME!) to re-shoe myself and, more importantly, to calm down.
Seriously, the only thing that prevented me from putting a boot in Tad's ass (I was wearing steel toes, too) was the fact that we were in an airport. If Tad, or any of his lazy slacker buddies, ever pull this sort of crap in a line I'm in that is not being monitored by armed federal agents I'm going to be cleaning bloody entrails off the toes of my boots...and dirty boots make me angry.
I ran across one of them at 6:00 this morning as I was attempting to pass through the security checkpoint. An unwashed 20-something chucklehead in front of me (let's call him Tad) did almost everything on my list of pet peeves in the security line. We had spent close to ten minutes waiting in that line and this little puke waited until he was at the very front to empty his pockets of metal and carefully place them in his coat pockets one by one. Then Tad takes his coat off, folds it very neatly and places it in the bucket.
On to the shoes he goes...bend over, unlace one, slip it off, stand up and into the bucket. Bend over, unlace the other, slip it off, stand up and into the bucket...all the while oblivious to the growing logjam behind him and the empty scanner machine in front of him.
A curtain of bright red rage was beginning to cloud my vision when, before even bothering to shove his crap into the gaping maw of the empty scanner, Tad pulls his ID out of his front pocket, pulls his wallet out of his back pocket, puts the ID into the wallet and puts the wallet back into his pocket. The word rage cannot explain the level I was on at that moment.
After finally finding his way through the metal detector (if that thing had gone off, I swear I would have tackled that filthy bastard) Tad proceeds to do his little philistine polka all over again but in reverse. I somehow managed to wedge myself in enough to quickly grab my laptop, bags and shoes and then I headed to the nearest chair (far enough away from the congested security checkpoint SO I WOULDN'T BE AN OBSTACLE TO THOSE BEHIND ME!) to re-shoe myself and, more importantly, to calm down.
Seriously, the only thing that prevented me from putting a boot in Tad's ass (I was wearing steel toes, too) was the fact that we were in an airport. If Tad, or any of his lazy slacker buddies, ever pull this sort of crap in a line I'm in that is not being monitored by armed federal agents I'm going to be cleaning bloody entrails off the toes of my boots...and dirty boots make me angry.
The Elder Amens: Airport security lines are but one public area of modern life where a sizable portion of the population seems to lack what I would call "situational awareness." It's the ability to understand what's going on around you and how your actions impact others. It's really about paying attention to what you're doing and--more importantly--what you are going to do, planning, and then acting appropriately. You often encounter people with poor situational awareness on the roads, in checkout lines, and of course at the airport.
There's really no excuse for not being prepared to go through a security checkpoint. You should have nothing to do while waiting your turn except watch what's happening in front of you. If everyone is taking their shoes off, you will too. If everyone is taking their laptops out, you will too. If everyone is taking their coats off, so will you. Its' not exactly rocket science. And yet, it almost never fails that someone in front of you will reach the metal detector completely unprepared for it.
All that is required is just taking a couple of minutes to analyze the situation, plan, and act. Before I even get in the security line, I make sure I have nothing metal in my pockets, my laptop is easily accessible, my coat is off, and that I have my boarding pass and passport ready. It's just common sense and common courtesy towards your fellow travelers. You know, we're living in a society.
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