In the past, whenever I travelled by plane I would, typically, only feel angst about my own situation. What should I pack? When should I arrive at the airport? Will I have enough time to make my connection?  9-11 changed that. Now, I feel angst about the situation of those travelling around me. And whether the angst I feel is validated or not, I recently discovered, it somewhat alters my travelling experience…
For example: Recently, we arrived at the airport for a 12-hour flight. We were early and the airline had not yet opened their check-in counters, but, as it was a large plane, there were already many passengers queuing-up. The airline also had a lot of self-service kiosks and since we already had our digital boarding passes and only one bag of luggage to check-in, we went to the widely available bag-tag kiosks and headed to the bag-drop line which had only one passenger in front of us.
As we rolled our bag (with its proper tag on it), we noticed that this passenger was carrying only a small bag, slung over her shoulder. The bag was more like a purse and would be classified (according to airline policy) as a personal item. She wasn’t even wearing (or carrying) a jacket. In addition to our luggage, we each also carried a personal item and a mid-sized backpack.
Bottom line, WE looked like travelers who were about to board a 12-hour flight and SHE looked like a mom about to run into a store to buy some apples for her children to snack on in their minivan. As the airline attendant readied himself to open and manage the bag-drop line, SHE turned around to us and asked, “Am I in the right line?” I wanted to shout a resounding “NO!” because she was standing in the bag-drop line WITHOUT a bag. We soon discovered that she was not only NOT in possession of a bag in the bag-drop line, but that she also was NOT in possession of a boarding pass. My husband encouraged her to utilize the boarding-pass kiosks so that she could print her bag-tag. She responded with some weird claim that the kiosks don’t work with her passport because her name isn’t correct. WHAT? We both began to worry and even more so when the bag-drop line attendant promptly printed her boarding pass for her. Shouldn’t SHE have been a red flag for the airline as SHE was seemingly travelling without luggage and under some sort of alias? SHE certainly was a cause for concern to me! And rather than relaxing while I waited, I spent the rest of my time worrying about her and what her possible motives might be for travelling on a 12-hour flight with NO luggage and with a passport with an incorrect name.
At the gate, I only watched her. SHE seemed nervous and apprehensive to me. Her behavior, in comparison to all others, was odd. Nevertheless, we still boarded the plane when our group was called and settled into our seats. Shortly before boarding was complete, from the back of the plane (or at least from behind us), a man abruptly sat in the seat in front of us. He was carrying only a backpack and quickly placed it in the spot between the empty window seat next to him and the window fuselage rather than under the seat in front of him. Why did he do this? Was there something in the backpack that would explode? Why did he come from the back of the plane? Why did he seem nervous? Was he trying to get an upgraded seat without paying for it?...
Angst! Angst!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!

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