I try not to laugh at other people in public. It’s really not polite. But yesterday I couldn’t help myself.
As I’m standing in line to walk through the magnetometer at the airport Security Theater, a man in front of me goes through the scanner and sets off the alarm. The TSA agent on the other side says “Take your belt off, sir.” The gentleman looked down and started patting his pockets, looking for something he might have forgotten. He was of southeast-Asian descent, and clearly didn’t understand what the woman had told him. He knew that he had set-off the buzzer, but didn’t understand her instructions. So this brilliant woman first speaks slower, and in an irritated tone…”t a k e o f f y o u r b e l t”. Now the poor guy is getting nervous. Slower didn’t work, so she figured that maybe if he doesn’t speak English, maybe he can spell in English. “B E L T!” she blurts out. LOL I’m sorry, this is just ridiculous. Finally she does what any reasonable person would have done in the first place; she points to his belt buckle. He pulls off his belt, and sails through the scanner.
Am I really supposed to feel good about people like this “securing” the airports? *shudder*