Personal Experience

My face dropped, and there was an eerie silence as other travelers having their bags checked and X-ray scanned, all of a sudden took an interest in the dialogue between the security guard and me. “A knife?” I replied, hiding any emotion of fear and panic. Yes, I am in an airport, and yes the expression on his face is humourless. In an instant the exuberant mood I was in evaporated. “No, I don’t have a knife”, was my affirmative reply. This scenario isn’t really happening; I tried to convince myself. Yet, as other travelers looked on, and more security guards converged near my bag, I began to realize that the situation was becoming quite serious indeed.

“Would you take everything out of your bag,” he quietly requested as we moved over to the long table just after the scanning machine. “Sure,” I complied, as my brother under his breath said, “oh no.”

Read more: Do you have a knife in your bag?