red flagged

jetlagged again...so i got some time. strap yourselves in...we're going on a rant!

The lady at the US Airways check-in counter didn't like me. Normally, I'm horrible at reading people. I can't tell if someone likes or loathes me, but with this lady, I knew the moment she looked at me. Maybe it was the fact that there weren't many asians in Rome? Maybe I had just had a certain look. I'm not sure, all I know is that this lady did not like me. We'll call her Miriam, since... well, that was her real name (yea let's just say if you flag me as a terrorist, the courtesy of a fake-name isn't extended to you).

The minute I walked up to the counter she started the series of questions...the usual stuff first. Are you transporting anything dangerous? Did anyone give you any strange packages? Apparently she didn't like my answers to binary yes/no questions, so she pointed me to a back room to search my checked luggage. Then she brought in two more ppl to search, since she said I appeared nervous. Yea, US Airways put their check-in counter in a makeshift open-air warehouse (imagine birds everywhere) at Fiumicino airport with no air conditioning when Rome is routinely in the 80's with 85-90% humidity and she's wondering why her customer has a little bit of sweat on his forehead?  Miriam, lets just say if it wasn't the temperature in the warehouse, then my uneasiness could also be contributed to the fact that a pigeon just flew by my head at the airport counter.

After a thorough search of my luggage, she tagged them as oversized (it was a carry-on sized bag) so they'd be re-examined before going into the plane. Then she escorted me to security and mentioned to the guy at the metal detector to thoroughly check me. After a through search that revealed nothing (big surprise!) i went on my merry way into the terminal. I got to the airport 2 hours before the flight so I could have enough time to get some coffee and walk around the terminal a bit. Yeaaaa, i now have only 15 minutes to get to the gate for boarding. I get out my boarding pass, get in line, and as i got to the counter, guess who was there?

Miriam was there waiting for me, and flagged me over to two security officer for a "random" preboarding check of bags and pockets. Again. And they found nothing suspicious. Again. You would think that she'd have given up by now, but nope. I felt tempted to make a comment to her as i boarded the plane, but it'd be a rude awakening if i got to Charlotte and she was there with some US Customs agents. No, no...just keep walking.

I honestly can't believe one disgruntled US Airways check-in lady could single-handedly have so much power to mess with someone the whole day. She basically picked me out of a lineup and decided to have some fun. Well i guess my encounter with Miriam is over hopefully...unless she put me on a no-fly list too. I hope not...