Skip to main content

An Extra Box

Sometimes you end up bringing home more from a trip than you brought in the first place.  It was all too easy for me to buy gifts for my daughter, plus a canary squeaker, a duck quacker, and a cowbell, not too difficult to pack.

My husband just couldn't make everything fit. At a music conference with two huge rooms of exhibitors, he made the rounds more than once. As we headed out, he found himself with one extra box. So, as he had no carry-on, he decided he'd get a tote bag at the airport and just bring it on the plane.

We went through the rigamarolle of security together, and were almost finished when I noticed several workers huddled around the scanning machine.

"Excuse me, sir? Is this your package?" He gestured to the box.

My husband said yes.

"I'll have to open this package to examine the contents. Will you please step over here, sir?"

We gathered our things from the bins, put on our shoes, and went over to a separate scanning table. My husband was asked to sit down next to the worker. At this point a word leapt out at me from the computer screen: EXPLOSIVES.

It was very quiet. The man used a special sort of wand to go over each edge of the package. Then he opened it, scanned again. He carefully slid out the contents, which were wrapped thickly in bubble wrap. Scanned again.

I glanced at my husband. He was leaning forward, watching the entire process intently. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. It seemed to be taking forever as the man followed his preordained protocol.

Finally, and delicately, he removed the wrapping with one hand, wand at the ready. He stopped.

"Nice!" He said.  We all exhaled.

"Thanks," said my husband. "That's why I came to San Antonio."


 
A word of thanks to the TSA worker, who, although he could have been risking his life every second, treated my husband with courtesy and respect. Thanks to my husband who participated in the process with a gentle grace. And thanks to the Executive Board of TI:ME, who incorporated the lovely clock into his presentation gift. We'll never forget the excitement it afforded us.

And now I am returning home to the awesomeness that is Columbia-- with my award-winning husband, happy memories, and hopes for the future.


hocoblogs@@@



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...