I am back in Haiti. Somehow. I didn't think I was gunna make it. I woke up way too early Wednesday morning to the coldest air this skin has encountered in a long time. I got dropped off at the Orlando airport before 6- freezing, tired thus confused. I had 2 carry on backpacks, a suitcase and a box of soccer nets. I was really late but too drowsy to care. I got pulled to the front of the check in counter when the AA lady told me the Port-au-Prince airport doesn't except boxes, only suitcases. With a sigh, I reluctantly agreed, checked my suitcase only and grabbed my two backpacks and started towards security. The lady yelled at me to stop and said I had to find somewhere to put my tapped up box. I asked if they could just throw it away, they declined and so I grabbed the box and backpacks and took off.
Where in the world do you put a 2 by 2 foot box? I didn't know either and my plane is taking off in like 25 minutes so I just politely put it down by some seats where no one was sitting. I got in the security line, waited, and then with 3 people left in front of me I got a tap on the shoulder. I turn around to see a rather unpleasant man saying come with me. He takes me to my box where about 6 other men, all in different uniforms, are standing impatiently. They ask me what's in the box, I reply "nets". They ask for my ticket and passport. Then each man standing there pulls out separate scanners to scan my passport and ticket like a cashier at a grocery store (my personal information is now the newest and latest addition to every warning and watch list the United States of America operates). They ask me to open the box, "okay" and as I go down each man takes 2 steps back. After opening, they ask me to pull everything out. Then they ask me questions that resembled a lightening round on a game show. With every answer, one of the men would turn and tell a man behind him in a suit who would then repeat my answer to someone on the other end of his phone.
Then I said, "Am I gunna miss my flight..." After a few more questions and many, many "this was a terrible decision" comments, one of the men walked me to the front of the security lined, mentioned something like "level one" and left me. At this, all my carry on items were pulled out and wiped down individually to see if there were any explosives as I was thoroughly hand and electronically checked by security. FI left for my plane which had surely left but they ended up holding the plane for me, I was the last one on... lot of cheery faces walking down the aisle...
RSS Feed