they aren’t terrorists

you know, those people in airports that everyone is afraid to put their bags near because you see them wandering around the airport looking around a lot as if maybe someone is watching their every move and seeming suspicious.  or they are wearing clothes that are a little bit funny to you or they can’t speak the language well.

that was me at the Cologne-Bonn airport.  from the minute I walked in I was totally disoriented.  most of the international airports are real nice.  they think they are trying so hard by putting a lot of seemingly easy to understand symbols like a little picture of a plane to indicate the gates or people holding hands for the bathrooms.  but it isn’t that simple.  and the few English words they put with those symbols aren’t really all that helpful.  sure an arrow and “Baggage” might point you in the right direction but there isn’t an arrow at every single turn.  airports are not quite as intuitive as you think they are.  the lights dim and the walls curve in at you like you’re in a fun house when the predominantly spoken language is not your native tongue.

and then there’s going through the security check.  that is a mad house.  I got in line and I’m looking around at every security guard.  I’m not hiding a pair of numchucks or a bottle of shampoo bigger than three ounces.  I’m looking for some instruction.  in the US they are constantly shouting at you while you are in line.

“take off your shoes and put them in the bin.”

“all liquids in bottles under three ounces must be inside a sealed ziploc baggie.”

“remove your laptop computers and place them in their own individual bins.”

“do you have film in this bag?!!!”

“boarding passes IN YOUR HAND!”

in the German airport no one is saying anything to you.  I didn’t know whether to take off my shoes.  no one else was but it’s summer and some of them were in sandals so sometimes they don’t make you take off sandals.  I didn’t know whether to hold on to my ticket or put everything in the bag.  confusion ensued at every step.  when it was finally my turn to go through the xray machine I know I looked anxious.   I was really afraid I was doing something wrong and I would be promptly escorted out to a German jail.  I couldn’t read the signs and I couldn’t understand the few words that the guy who brings back the empty bins said.  I was lost.

I am certain I looked like I was really nervous about being in the airport.  conclusion: those people you change seats to get away from aren’t suspicious.  they are confused.  give them a break or, better yet, help them out.  anxiety in people’s eyes at the airport doesn’t mean they are planning to blow up the plane.  maybe they are just lost.