Excuse Me Sir, What Are You Carrying In Your Luggage?
Los Angeles, 15th November 2001.
Yawn! We had a really late start today. It was our last day in the
US, and we didn't really have time to do anything, so why rush?
Checkout time had to be before 12 noon. We left our room at 11:58am.
As we didn't to be in the airport for a few hours, we attempted to
put our bags into the day lockers. Unfortunately all the big lockers
were full, so we had to spend far too long trying to fit our bags
into the small ones. It was hard work and we had to call on our best
Rubik's puzzle solving skills to fit them in. So after a half hour
of pushing, pulling, squashing and beating, we finally managed to
force the door shut.
We spent the next hour or so ambling around delightful Inglewood. We
were all totally starving and after a long trek to find a cash
machine, we looked for somewhere to get breakfast/lunch. Guess where
we went? I bet you said McDonalds, if you did, then you'd be wrong!
We managed to find a Burger King! (Actually the others had Burger
King, I managed to find the best fast-food restaurant ever, Subway!
Huge rolls, crammed full of juicy fillings, and it can be healthy if
you want it to!)
Not a lot else really happened, and before we knew it, we were back
in Tom Bradley International airport. For some reason it was quite
quiet, so we got through check in very quickly. I did, however, make
one mistake. When we got to the metal-detector gates and hand
luggage X-Ray point, the others went through problem free. I usually
get quite paranoid around these things. Don't ask me why, I just
think that for some innocent reason I'll set off the alarm and cause
a bit of trouble & confusion. So as I stepped through the gates, I
held my breath in anticipation and...nothing happened. I let out a
large sigh of relief. Too large a sigh. The attendant noticed this
and immediately thought I was carrying something I shouldn't be. So
she then proceeded to scan me with the wand about half a dozen
times. She really wanted to find something, luckily for me, the
searching didn't get any more thorough (no rubber gloves or anything
were brought out) and we continued onto the gate. The attendant
watched me pass with a thoroughly disappointed look on her face.
After an hour or so of walking around, sitting around, standing
around, playing on conveyor belts and reading, we were finally
allowed to board the plane. We got on 30 minutes late because the
flight crew had been held up by a traffic accident on the freeway.
(They weren't involved in the accident, they were just stuck in the
queue caused by it.)
We took our seats in cattle class, folding our legs into really
uncomfortable positions, and looked out of the windows. Before long,
America disappeared from view. Bye bye!
Our thoughts on the USA:
BIG! Everything in the US is big. Their cars are big, their
restaurants are big, their portions are big, their roads are big,
their houses are big, their swimming pools are big, everything is
big! The Americans proud themselves on having the largest of
everything. There is no such thing as a 'small' in McDonalds, only
Medium, Large and Super Size.
CARS! American cars are beautiful machines. They are large,
powerful, curved and just darn wonderful. No rusty boxes on wheels
out here! If I could afford it, I would import an American car.
Dodge & Chrysler rule!
FRIENDLY! The Americans we met were really friendly and went
out of their way to help us out. Especially when they hear an
English accent, they seem to really want to chat to us & wish us
well. This feeling has probably been reinforced with the recent
international events where the US and the UK have stood side by
side.
PATRIOTIC. Everywhere you look, there are American flags. On
cars, in homes, in gardens, in public buildings, in shops,
everywhere! From tiny plastic ones, to huge fabric ones on the side
of buildings, every citizen seemed to be waving a US flag. Again,
especially with the recent events, the patriotism of US citizens is
more evident than ever.
Well, we've had real fun in the States, let's see what New Zealand
has to offer now...
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