The Stars at Night are Big and Bright!

Well, here we are in Lewisville, TX-- a bit north of Dallas--spending some hellaciously (sp?) hot, but very entertaining days with Andrew's family. We're headed back to MI on Tuesday. I'll update more about the trip later, but until then, I thought it most fitting to share an entertaining tale of our travels, in light of the new liquids restrictions.

(This tale has nothing to do with carrying-on of liquids, but rather the culture of paranoia terrorist "alerts" elicit in many people.)

So, we get on the plane in Chicago to fly to DFW. Everything was scheduled to be on time. The plane boards. All seems good, until, a few rows ahead of us, a female passenger starts flipping out--the passenger next to her, a college student who is reading ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY (and who also looks vaguely Arabic)--and calls the stewardess. The stewardess then calls the TSA marshal. The marshal arrives to investigate, and the conversation goes something like this:

Marshal, flipping through the magazine: Well, ma'am, which article was it?
The woman, hyperventilating, gesturing like a monkey on speed: That one.
Marshal: Oh... I see.
(It's an article about the new James Bond film, and there's a picture of Jame Bond holding an Uzi)
More conversation ensues. The magazine is confiscated. The crazy ho wants the kid thrown off the plane. When they won't remove him from the plane, she removes her carry-on bag from the overhead compartment, and saunters up to the front of the plane demanding to be let off. She drags her very embarrassed husband along with her.

Everyone in the back of the plane is laughing at her. It's completely obvious to the rest of us that this woman's fears are completely unfounded and irrational. Even the stewardesses are trying to suppress smiles. When the woman leaves the plane, everyone breathes easier. We're relieved to have the college kid on board. Everyone else seems to know that A) James Bond is British and B) Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine.

I hold up one of Evan's books-- How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon-- and say to the guys behind me, "Are you guys afraid of this?" They threaten to get me thrown off the plane. We laugh heartily.

When the flight lands at DFW, one of the passengers calls his wife to tell her we've arrived. As he fills her in on what held up the flight, he says, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I think that woman's husband lost a bet with Satan."

I begin clapping. Let's hear it for traveling in America.