The lines, the crowds, and the waiting all add to the anxiety of surviving an airport. Airport security always seems to make me a little nervous, even though I know I am of no threat to national security, I still get uneasy standing in that line. It’s my turn, I have emptied my pockets, removed my laptop from its case, and now it is time to pass through the metal detector. Since neither the TSA guy or myself could find the source of alarm, I was taken to an isolated area to receive a quite aggressive pat down, in my underwear I might add. I was clean, go figure? The TSA agent was so rude and I could feel myself getting ready to fire of a sarcastic comment. Instead I snatched up my things and stormed off toward my gate. I arrive just in time to hear the announcement that my flight was canceled. Then I heard an announcement over the P.A. " Passenger Matthew Walker please come to the service desk." The anger is growing. The airline employee begins her long and insincere apology for my inconvenience. She went on to tell me that she would put me on standby for the last flight to Dallas so that I could catch the last flight to Birmingham or I would be stuck over night in Houston. "The flight to Dallas is full but maybe we can get you on.", she said in a cute little voice as if she were talking to a small child. I was not happy. An hour later I boarded the plane. I arrived in Dallas with about 15 minutes to reach my gate for the connecting flight, so needless to say I was in a hurry. I was on my feet as soon as the seat belt sign was turned off and within seconds all of belongings were collected and I was ready to exit. Yeah right! I had never seen so many old ladies in such a small place. About 10 minutes later I was finally out of the jet way rushing to the screens to check my flight info. "DELAYED" in flashing red letters was what I was greeted with as I found my gate number.
My excitement faded. After 5 gate changes,3 hours worth of delays, and a greasy airport Chinese Food dinner, I finally left Dallas. It was 10:00 P.M. when I boarded the plane. As the attendant took my ticket she said "Have a nice flight sir." to which I replied "Yeah right.", this was not going to be a "nice flight". I usually try to get an isle seat so I can stretch out my legs. Usually the attendants say excuse me when they are coming through with the drink cart, but not on this flight. I was half asleep when my knee was rammed with the cart. I almost lost it. The flight attendant didn't say a word, no apology, nothing.
The flight was almost over and I couldn’t get back to sleep so I reached into my backpack to find my book. I pulled it out to find that it was covered in shampoo. "How could this get any worse?", is what I was thinking when I pulled out my laptop. It was covered in shampoo. There were no words to explain how angry I was. I didn’t say another word to any one, claimed my luggage and went storming into the parking deck. My friend dropped off my car and gave me directions on where to find it. He told me the wrong floor so I walked all over looking for it when it was right above me. I was furious. I got into my car, slammed the door and then looked at the clock. It was 12:30 and I still had an hour drive. The next events of my night involved screaming obscenities at the top of my lungs and beating the steering wheel. After it was all over I took a deep breath, put the car in drive, and started the drive home. Anger is something we all experience. Sometimes we are angry and we don’t even know why. In the book of James chapter 1:20 it says “a man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” We waste a lot of time angry about things that don’t even matter. My anger did not change my circumstances, if anything it made it worse. Life is too short to be angry all the time.
In Christ
Matt Walker
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