I once had to drive to the airport to pick up my housemate. I had circled through the pick-up area a couple of times already and was making a third circuit when I had to stop because there was a crosswalk in front of me and pedestrians were using it.

One of the officers who controlled traffic there immediately started blowing their whistle and yelling at me.

Officer: “Keep moving! There’s no stopping unless you’re actively picking someone up.”

There were pedestrians literally DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF MY CAR. And it’s not like I was driving some behemoth of a vehicle that was blocking his view; at the time, I drove a 1993 Volvo 940 turbo station wagon. He could clearly see the people in the crosswalk. I guess he just really wanted me to run them over.

For the record, I chose to wait until I WOULDN’T risk committing vehicular manslaughter before driving out of the pick-up area, going to the parking structure, and texting my housemate that I’d meet her on foot to help her carry her luggage to the car.

I just read this story and thought I’d share my own experience.

In the early 2000s, my wife and I went on holiday to Spain with my wife’s family. This was not long after the World Trade Centre attack, and airport security was a little bit crazy.

As we were going through security in the UK, I got stopped. There was a screwdriver in my bag: a small one, about two inches long, for repairing my glasses. It was in a case WITH my glasses. (I also wore contact lenses.) The security guard insisted that it had to be dumped into their sharps bin. I argued that it was for my glasses; no, it still had to be dumped.

Me: *In exasperation* “Look, I’m not going to do anything with that. I could do more damage to someone with a fistful of my housekeys. Are you going to confiscate them?“

Well, that got me a warning and the threat of being barred from the flight, so I complied. And, in case anyone is reading this and thinking racism, no; I have Celtic ancestry, so I’m as pasty white as they come (and I was ginger in those days).

So, I surrendered my tiny screwdriver, and we passed through security into the departure lounge.

In the departure lounge, there was a gift shop. One of the things it sold, for about £5, was a combination corkscrew/bottle opener — with a two-inch, foldout knife blade — which I could have bought and carried on to the plane without anyone to stop me.

Related:
White Privilege Is Screwed Up

I had to travel from New York to Boston during one of “those” storms — like the one in this story. I could see that the weather was likely to cancel flights, so I booked a train. My flight was (as expected) cancelled. My train was cancelled. I got on another, which sat for four hours (without heat) in New Haven waiting for a replacement engine.

The [Rideshare] from the station to the hotel, which should have taken five minutes, took twenty-five minutes because streets were blocked due to flooding and snow drifts. I had to walk through a metre (three feet) of snow to get to the [Rideshare].

When I checked into the hotel:

Staff: “We apologise, but there is no room service right now. The kitchen is closed as the staff didn’t make it in today. In fact, out of about thirty bookings for tonight, you’re the only one who has actually made it to the hotel today! There’s probably only one bar that might have an open kitchen within walking distance; you could try that for food and drink.”

I was secretly pretty pleased that my plans to get to Boston worked. Even though it took nearly ten hours, it was better than being stuck in New York at the airport trying to get on a flight. The airport didn’t really open for two more days!

Related:
All I Want For Christmas Is A Little Perspective And Humility

Recently, my mother-in-law had a major change in attitude. Over the last eleven years, she hasn’t visited us or spoken with me or my husband due to her religious zealot, hate-all attitude. So, it was a surprise when my father-in-law told us they were both coming for Christmas and [Mother-In-Law] had a surprise for me.

Their plane landed, and I was waiting for them in the bag pickup lounge. As soon as [Mother-In-Law] saw me, she made this happy squeak and hugged me.

Mother-In-Law: “Just look at you. You look gorgeous! By the way, where’s the ladies’ room?”

I told her and waited for her to exit the lounge, and I asked [Father-In-Law] what had just happened.

Father-In-Law: “She had a near-death experience. She got mugged and went to the hospital with a cracked skull.”

Me: “Oh, my God! Is she okay? Did they catch the guy?”

Father-In-Law: *Laughing* “No guy. Let me explain. She was stocking shelves at work, and they have these breakfast mugs that are more like big bowls with handles. She was kneeling and tripped when getting up, hitting the shelf with her shoulder, and four mugs fell on her head, knocking her out.”

Me: *Shocked* “So, she’s nice because of that?”

Father-In-Law: “She says Jesus spoke with her and told her to stop hating — that unless she changed her ways, she was going to Hell. Thus, she started volunteering at a soup kitchen and put her name up for housing kids who were kicked out by their parents for being gay. We’ll have our first kid in January.”

My husband, our oldest, and I are still a bit shocked at the change. [Mother-In-Law] made heart-shaped waffles for dinner, played with the triplets, and even bought the cutest clothes for the baby. 

Let’s hope this change is permanent.

I am an agent at check-in at an airport. An older lady showed up with a bag and a cardboard box to check. I weighed them both, and it was a total of 28 kgs (13 in the bag, 15 in the box, a total of 5 kg in excess). I asked her the security questions about what was in the box (fruit).

Me: “I can ‘forgive’ 2 kg, but you will have to pay 4€ a kg for the rest, for a total of 12€.”

Lady: “What? I’m not going to pay that!”

Me: “Then you have to remove the 3 kg from the bag,”

Lady: “No way. Do your job and check those bags, as they are free!”

Me: *Fed up* “You want me to do my job? Either remove 5 kg, pay 20€, or ship only one of the items. Choose now or step aside.”

She realized I was serious and decided to check just the bag. What did she do with the box? Don’t know, don’t care.