While waiting for our return flight at the lovely Charleston International Airport, the lights went out. Fifteen seconds later, the generator kicked in, providing partial lighting. Moments later, the attendant at our gate asked if anyone was missing a black backpack. It was resting on a chair, unattended, not 10 feet from us. He announced again, for the owner of the black backpack to claim the bag. He said, if the person didn’t claim the bag that he would call the authorities, to which I said loudly and clearly, “Call them!” My mind had immediately reverted to the Boston Marathon bomber incident and I had little confidence in the Charleston based TSA who had just made me throw away my small container of unopened Chobani yogurt while they entirely missed the two bottles of liquid insect repellant in my husband’s bag that he was willing to risk being confiscated if they found them rather than check his bag.
At the gate, the supervisor walked over to the bag and saw that there was no identification on it. My husband whispered to me, “Now that was brave”. To which I responded that perhaps we should move away from it. He didn’t budge. I looked around and saw that no one else that was in close proximity to the unattended bag moved either. I looked at my husband and said something to the effect that this is what denial looks like, plain and simple. No one wants to believe that anything dangerous could be in that backpack.
Admittedly, I felt a bit of discomfort or maybe embarrassment when I grabbed my own backpack and leaving my stubborn husband behind, I moved to another seating area some 500 feet away until the bag was removed.
I learned something about human nature. I learned that some of us are risk takers and will defiantly face danger. Others of us refuse to admit to the danger: the deniers. Some care more about peer pressure and will abandon their own good judgment to not want to appear frightened . And then others like me, will err on the side of caution and gravitate to safety, not giving a damn what others think and remembering the times when people used bombs in backpacks to kill innocent people. I just never thought of myself as being in that kind of minority. I often quote Proverbs 22:3 to myself in my self-parenting (and I quoted it to the children when they were younger). It reads, “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.” The New International version says, “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.”
In the end, it all turned out fine. The bag was removed without blowing up, everyone was safe, the blackout persisted and actually saved me from purchasing yet another unnecessary souvenir from the beautiful gift shop that was forced to close when the lights went out (I was there shopping), and our plane took off on time even with the blackout. Gotta love the Charleston International Airport.