AIRPORT ENCOUNTERS

                                       Sometimes Travel can be Frustrating.

In 1971 or thereabouts. my husband’s ship was going to Hong Kong for R & R and I thought what a great opportunity for me to meet the ship there and do a little sightseeing. On the way the plane landed in Taipei, Taiwan to refuel. We all off loaded the plane into a holding room. We were there for the longest time when they finally told us we could not reboard until the lost flight manifest was found. We couldn’t leave that room or walk around the airport. It a little scary to think that we could be there a very long time, and that maybe I’d never make it to Hong Kong. But about an hour later we did reboard, and we were on our way. We never did know if they actually found the manifest or not, or if it actually really was missing, or if there was some other reason for the delay. Although late arriving in Hong Kong, my husband was at the airport waiting for me.

London’s Heathrow airport is not an easy one to get through. I’ve been through there several times and each time have had some kind of an encounter. After my first trip to Europe, we left for home via Heathrow. After my carryon had been scanned I was asked to step aside. I was puzzled as the bag contained mostly dirty laundry, but I did as asked. The tall, handsome middle-aged Brit said, “I need you to open your bag for me. Embarrassed by the contents of two-week old smelly laundry I inquired, “All right, but why?”

A dark spot showed up on xray and I just need to check it out.” So, there I stood, slowly taking out my dirty laundry putting it on the counter. He was so apologetic and kept saying he was sorry. Eventually I pulled out the two glass bowls I had bought in Amsterdam. I think the agent was delighted that my task was about over, his eyes lit up as he held the bowl saying, “This was the problem. Lead crystal shows up as a dark blob, and it could be a bomb. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience.” I shoved everything back in the bag and was on my way to the departure gate.

Another time my son and I were going through Heathrow on our way to Nairobi, Kenya. My photographer son had about 100 rolls of film in his carry-on bag. We were asked to step aside while the fellow opened every single film canister, and tipped the film out before recapping the canister! The only film that escaped was a sealed blister pack of about 24 rolls. I’m sure they were looking for drugs, and knowing that there wasn’t any, I was annoyed at the delay. But there is nothing one can do, as they hold the power. Coming home we were again routed through Heathrow. I had a walking stick that they insisted I scan, which since it wasn’t hollow I thought was pretty unnecessary.

In addition, the grommets on my son's shoes set off the buzzer, and a foil gum wrapper in my pockets also set it off, so we both had to step aside after emptying our pockets to be wanded.

Transfer time was limited, and it was a long hike from the scanner so we hurriedly gathered our things, and took off down the concourse. We hadn’t gone 150 yards when I suddenly stopped saying, “I left our airline tickets back at the scanner.” My son stayed with the luggage, as I hurried back to the scanner where they insisted I had not left any tickets, Well, I knew I had, and it was pretty easy to surmise that who ever followed me through the scanner had inadvertently picked up my tickets along with his pocket contents..

One trip coming home from Europe my trusty 22-inch roll on was really heavy when I finished packing it, and I even questioned if it would be too heavy to get in the overhead. However I had no problem getting from Budapest to Frankfort where I ran into nothing but nasty girls manning   the gate.

      Unfortunately I got in the shortest of two lines, but it turned out to be a group 


returning home. I was just about to move into the seating area when one of the


 attendants informed me my suitcase was too big to carry on. I stated it had 


done just fine on my previous flight. There was no further discussion as she

 informed me I could check it or I was not boarding the plane.

 

     I was just about to load the suitcase on the conveyor belt when I spied 


some broken down boxes near by. I was thoroughly annoyed as I had many

 gifts and new purchases in my bag that I wanted to arrive home with me. 

I grabbed a box, looked around for a couple empty chairs together and set 

about repacking my suitcase. I managed to get everything I wanted into the 


box leaving my suitcase   full of three weeks of dirty laundry which I put on 


the conveyor belt.

 

     In Houston after retrieving my suitcase and going through customs I again 


repacked my carry on taking the extra time to get everything back in the 


roll-on,then my suitcase and I strolled on to my departure gate, happy to be


 back in the US

AIRPORT ENCOUNTERS

 Heathrow

I have flown in and out of England’s Heathrow Airport several times. Sometimes with no encounters, other times not so smoothly. No way is anything going to avoid the scanner there.

          On our way to Africa my son had a lot of camera equipment and no less than 100 rolls of film. After going through the general scanner, we were taken aside where an attendant proceeded to open every single canister of film, except for the couple dozen rolls still in a blister pack. Since the blister pack was intact and he’d found nothing in any of the canisters he let them go unopened. I suspect he was looking for drugs as this was in the mid ‘90s. Fortunately we had plenty of time to make our flight.

            On return a couple of weeks later I again faced security problems at Heathrow. I had bought a walking stick before leaving Nairobi. It was solid and had no openings in it. It scanned ok and in the days before the bins one now uses to empty your pockets etc, the scanner attendant insisted I empty my fannypac. It would have been so much easier to just run it through the scanner, but no!

            I don’t recall what I said to the fellow, but his reply was, “Madam, you either oblige or you don’t make your flight.”

            So I did as instructed. Time was tight. We gathered our things and headed off toward our gate.

            Suddenly I stopped short. In a panic I said, “I forgot to pick up the airline tickets. Stay here with the luggage while I run back to the scanner for them.”

            The tickets had been in my fannypac and I still don’t know how I missed picking them up. Strangely no one had seen them and they insisted I was mistaken. That made me wonder who was paying attention to what!

            At the British Air counter I explained to the agent what had happened. Earlier I had checked the tickets so I even knew what our seat numbers were.

            “Have you checked lost and found?” the agent asked.

            “No. I just went back to check at security.”

            “Come with me to the lost and found first.” Of course no one had turned in the tickets as only minutes had lapsed. More than likely someone behind us picked them up thinking they were theirs and would not discover the mistake until they were at their boarding gate.

             Back to the counter, the plane was boarding. However, everyone was very nice. After checking the computer and verifying our seats the attendant simply issued us new boarding passes.

            We were so lucky not to be assessed a penalty for new tickets! I have always been grateful for that.

            We were in a time crunch and that security fellow had me  rattled, but that is the only time, in my traveling career, I’ve ever lost airline tickets. But even luckier is the fact I only had the British Air tickets in hand. Our Delta tickets for our US flight the next day were safe in my passport necklace!

AIRPORT ENVCOUNTER

    A  HUGE  EMBARRASSMENT

            On my first trip to Europe years ago, long before I was smart enough to travel light, I did a fair amount of shopping. The night before we were coming home I’d carefully repacked putting all my breakables into my carry-on duffel bag along with all my dirty laundry.

            At that time I did not know leaded glass showed up as a blob in the scanner. We were leaving through London’s Heathrow Airport . Since I’d checked my major bag, I expected no problem getting through the scanner.

            HOWEVER. A very sweet middle aged man asked if the duffel was mine. When I confirmed it was he asked permission to check its contents. Without thinking I said, “Sure.” Like there could be any other response but an affirmative one.

            As he unzipped the bag I was horrified to  remember the bag’s contents.

As he pulled out one piece of clothing after another I sheepishly told him, “I’m so sorry. All my dirty laundry is in there. I’m so sorry.”

            This was in the days before gloves when I probably would have picked stuff up by the corner with two fingers and made a face each time. He was most pleasant—and professional—saying it was no problem.

            When he found the crystal bowls I’d bought for my sister he remarked, “Ah, here it is.” Then he explained to me how the lead shows as a blob, and there is no way to know what it is. Not that I looked like a bomber, but they needed to be careful.

            I’ve never forgotten that embarrassing experience, but it has not stopped me from buying something if I want it. Now if I’m stopped I just ask what they’re looking for and if I knowingly have such items I’ll give directions as to where in the carry-on it is located and what it is. This speeds things along and I’m shortly on my way.