My trip - 36th CE Reunion 9-23-05

[Walt's Daughter]

This is how my trip began. I can assure you it wasn't FUNNY at the time, but now it's a real HOOT!

 

The night before my flight, I meticulously went through every item, especially my WWII collection, to make sure that they wasn't anything packed away that might trigger off the security sensors at the airports. You know how tough this is now.

 

I grabbed a borrowed a laptop computer from a friend, along with my purse and two pieces of wheeled luggage and arrived at the airport for my connector flight to Detroit. Everything was fine, I arrived on time and proceeded through security. All the usual, take off your shoes, take the laptop out of it's case, etc.

 

I make it through okay (or so I thought), when they say that they have to run the laptop case back through. Okay. Go ahead. Well then I see a couple of them conferring. Hmmm, what the heck is this all about? It still doesn't faze me, I've got plenty of time...

 

Well now another security guard comes towards me with something in his hand. He looks at me rather peculiarly, opens his hand and whips open a collapsible knife. He says, "Why did you feel the need to bring this on the plane young lady?" What? What?

 

I am beside myself by now and blurt out, "IT'S NOT MINE!!" Oh my God, what in the hell is that? I am stunned. I repeat, "It's not mine. I borrowed this laptop from a friend last night (right now I'm questioning the word FRIEND) and didn't know anything about it. Oh my sinking heart.

 

Well they ask for my ID and go over to a terminal and start typing things in. Good grief Charlie Brown, I'm a terrorist!

:pdt40:

 

Oh man, what are they going to do with me? Oh man, am I going to miss my flight. Oh man, I've had this planned for almost a year. Oh man, I can't believe this. Oh Rick I am going to KILL YOU!

 

After a couple of minutes (ya, it felt like eternity) two of the guards come back over and the one says, "You have two options!" Yes and they are? "You can either march yourself and this knife back to your car and lock it away, or you can have us confiscate it. Well, I tell him, I don't want to miss my flight, so I guess you will have to confiscate it. Actually they were pretty darn nice about all this. He looked over the knife and said he really couldn't tell, but he didn't think it was very valuable. You know, no inscriptions, etc., but he said he had no way to really tell.

 

But, I did get on my phone and called my buddy. So at 8:00 AM, he gets a phone call from me telling him that I am with security at the airport. I ask him, "Did you forget something in your case? Huh? Well, security, I gasp, has your knife and is going to confiscate it. I think he about dropped the phone. Let them confiscate it Marion he says. He then starts apologizing and tells me that he went through the case last night. Well buddy, you forgot one very important item.

 

By now the security guards are smiling and then wish me a nice trip... Oh ya! Bad day to forget to put on my deodorant...