It’s March madness at the security checkpoints — did you pack your smile?

by Jason Barger on March 19, 2009

As March Madness begins, airports are filled with travelers looking to escape to paradise for Spring Break. The excitement, anxiety, and frustrations of trying to navigate through the airport obstacles to reach your final destination often collide right at the security line checkpoints.

We’ve all witnessed the family dressed in Hawaiian shirts dragging each other along, barking out orders, leaving everyone else with the impression that they are going to need a vacation from their vacation.

If the recent news is any indicator, we better prepare ourselves for longer delays at the security checkpoints as TSA ramps up its protocols. We better approach those security lines with a different attitude, or else our frustrations may very well boil over and paradise may seem even further away.

So what can we do?

Perhaps we can learn from a woman I watched move through the security lines in Boston. She was selected and pulled aside for “additional” screening. The middle-age TSA worker slung her bag up on the counter, and in a matter of minutes, her nice and neatly packed bag was a pile of disheveled items on the table. Her underwear was laying in front of everyone as person after person passed her in line.

I was mesmerized by this woman as she asked the TSA worker about his day. She shared where she was traveling and laughed at his jokes. She had such a pleasant way about her. When the search was finished, the man walked away – leaving her disorganized pile of belongings. The young woman calmly began to scoop the items back into her bag, and then abruptly, began running toward her gate.

I never suspected she was in a hurry. I kept wondering why she wasn’t complaining about her scattered belongings? Why wasn’t she upset she was one of the only passengers selected to be searched? Why wasn’t she moaning about having to run in high-heeled shoes down to her gate to catch her plane?

Instead, a smile stretched across her face.

She was meeting the obstacles, delays and cancellations along her path with grace. Instead of adding to the tension at the checkpoint, she was putting loving and grateful vibrations into motion. She was traveling gracefully.

This March, perhaps we can approach the madness with grace. Maybe then, paradise won’t feel so far away.

Jason Barger is author of Step Back from the Baggage Claim: Change the World, Start at the Airport.

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Tagged as: graceful travel, Jason Barger, march madness, security checkpoints, Step back from the baggage claim

  • Hapgood

    It’s always nice to hear about individuals who are so pleasant and cheerful no matter what indignities life throws at them that they surely deserve a place either in Nirvana or on the Calendar of Saints. But what about the rest of us who are merely human?

    I will admit that the preternaturally-gifted woman you describe had the right approach to her cameo role in the TSA Security Theater Production. Like any petty officials with thankless jobs, at least some TSA screeners surely derive special pleasure from exercising their power to make passengers very upset. Most people would indeed be very angry if their carefully-packed belongings were dumped onto a filthy table in full view of everyone, then pawed through by a screener’s filthy hands, after which they’d have to gather up and re-pack everything as quickly as possible before dashing to the gate. The understandable blood-boiling outrage would surely be a sight that filled the screener’s petty little heart with a full day’s worth of joy and exultation in his Power and Authority.

    But this woman’s saintly grace under what must have been extreme pressure not only set an example for the rest of us, it denied the the screener whatever pleasure they might have derived from watching her suffer from what they imposed. I don’t know how many ordinary mortals could have done what this extraordinary woman was able to do. But doing whatever is possible to remain calm and avoid showing any distress will certainly make the indignities of travel better– even if it’s not possible to be as cheerfully unflappable as that woman. And “traveling gracefully” is probably the only way to get back at the petty tyrants, by denying them the pleasure of seeing us react when they push our buttons.

    For those of us who are nothing like that amazing woman, the most practical way to “travel gracefully” is to arrive at the airport absurdly, ridiculously, preposterously early. That way there will be ample time to deal with whatever unexpected glitches might happen without the time pressure. Bring a book or MP3 player to kill the time, or share your cheer with fellow passengers. So if the TSA honors you with a dump search, you can possibly afford to accept it all with grace and appreciation. And then after they’ve left your belongings in a heap, you can carefully inventory and re-pack everything before walking to the gate (and smile gracefully at the screeners who complain about your holding up the line). On the other hand, if it’s really necessary to spend so much time at an airport, wouldn’t driving or taking the train be a more “graceful” way to travel?

  • Frank

    I was mesmerized by this woman as she asked the TSA worker about his day. She shared where she was traveling and laughed at his jokes. She had such a pleasant way about her. When the search was finished, the man walked away – leaving her disorganized pile of belongings. The young woman calmly began to scoop the items back into her bag, and then abruptly, began running toward her gate.
    ============================================================

    She lives with JOY. After years of flying for a living, it was a decade ago when I finally realized anger comes from within. Certain events in one’s day can bring that anger out whether it be emotional or physical. Most people are not angry at the cirumstance, it was the vehicle that brought it to the surface. Flying can be frustrating, you lack control over when you get there, where you sit, when you drink, where your rollaboard can be stowed….etc. I, too, Jason, watch for those people who surrender that control to events that are out of their control.

    Smart Lady.

  • http://www.citadeladvantage.com Richard

    It’s certainly a nice reminder of how we should handle those things we have no decision in. However unknown? I’m not sure this woman didn’t know in advance that she’d be selected. We have all seen the dreaded “SSSSSS” on boarding cards, but some of us are always seeing them on OUR boarding cards. I live in Israel, which means my tickets are purchased overseas. It matter not that I am an American citizen. I will 99,8% of the time be selected for extra screening. Knowing this allows me to take a calm freindly approach ro the situation, and yes joke and laugh with the TSA agent forced to interact with me. Only once did I get a seriously mentally challenged individual, and I asked for his supervisor to clarify the situation.

  • Hapgood

    Frank has an interesting point. Yes, this woman lives with JOY. But people living with JOY are apparently so rare that it’s newsworthy when we encounter one. Why is that? Perhaps it’s the lack of control in so many aspects of our lives, of which air travel is just a particularly extreme example. That would tend to very quickly suck the JOY out of anyone’s life, leaving behind the chronic stress that’s behind so many of today’s common diseases. But there still are people who can transcend that and somehow retain the JOY that’s absent from most people’s lives.

    (Frank– if you are who I think you are– I miss your columns.)

  • Frank

    On March 20th, 2009 at 10:38 am Hapgood said Frank has an interesting point. Yes, this woman lives with JOY. But people living with JOY are apparently so rare that it’s newsworthy when we encounter one. Why is that? Perhaps it’s the lack of control in so many aspects of our lives, of which air travel is just a particularly extreme example.
    ============================================================

    That lady didnt feel the need to control the situation. Therefore, her emotions were at a level of peace and laughter. Anger wouldnt have changed the fact that a secondary check of her bag was happening. Now, on the inside of security, anger has gotten passengers into first class, better service, vouchers, mileage increases, free drinks etc. These entitlements created anger in some people who used the system to work the system. People have learned that anger can produce results. People live in and out of drama.
    YOU choose your feelings very moment of the day. When you communicate with other people using respect, you ultimately feel better about yourself.
    I’m seen as defending the TSA workforce on this site. Having a job where passengers can wear you down emotionally and physically, I relate to them. Few people see past the uniform.
    Hapgood, you need to stop letting the world affect your inner peace. Do as that lady did, affect the world around with your peace. =)

    Hapgood, what’s your screenname?

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