A Momentary Terrorist

I am on Alaska Airlines flight 708 returning to LAX from Vancouver. The expectation had been that I would board Alaska Airlines flight 607 departing at 530pm, and the expectation would have been fulfilled if I had not come under heavy suspicion of being a suicidal terrorist at immigration. I am not upset at the US immigration officials in Vancouver airport for causing me to miss my flight by keeping my travel items under close scrutiny and myself under interrogation for a solid two and a half hours. It was not their fault that my story played much like a terrorist's and the funny thing is that as I listened to my own story I couldn't help but groan inwardly at my increasing awareness of the officials mounting conviction that I intended to hijack the plane and crash it into the Seattle Space Needle after takeoff. A few factors contributed to Gao's (the official) excitement at the prospect of himself becoming a hero in the eyes of his peers after busting me wide open and then handing me over to the FBI:

1. my brand new Canadian passport replacing a lost one
2. the fact that I made the decision to quit my job and leave sunny California for no sensible reason, exiting on a one way ticket to Malaysia without any significant career purpose
3. that I was going to Spain for 30 days on the 30th of April to rendesvouz with someone that I had met on a trip to Malaysia a year and a half ago
4. that I had a CD in my luggage called Dub Qawali by Nusrah Fateh Ali Khan which looked menacingly like fanatical brain washing by some sort of muslim extremist mullah
5. that I had among my possessions a slip of paper entitled “No Fear” in capital letters and listing out strategic on court instructions for advancing my tennis game. In bullet form were words such as “stay aggressive”, “take the ball early” etc. It looked remarkably like motivational instructions for storming an airplane cockpit.

Gao ran all kinds of background checks on me and my itinerary, the moving company that I had engaged, the friend that I was meeting. As a final measure he even borrowed two of my music CDs and listened to then researched their content. I was impressed at his dedication and the more time I spent with him, the more I admired his professionalism. At the end of our interaction, as the veil of suspicion fell away, he broached the hint of a sheepish apologetic smile as we called me forward to return all my Ids, paperwork and other evidence that he had accumulated. Though bemused and entertained, I was glad to part as another innocuous journeyman desiring passage.

Gao you deserve a medal for your efforts, I thank you for your orchestration of this journal entry and I also thank you that the rubber gloves you put on were strictly for the purpose of sifting through my baggage and nothing else. :)