Airport Batman
There must be more to the story
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I'm sure no one else ever experiences this, but sometimes I find other people irritating.
Going through security at Heathrow Airport in London, an agent pulled my bag for a search. So, I shuffled to the table and waited behind the other unlucky passengers. The agent removed everything from each bag and spread it on the table. He finally got to my bag after 45 minutes. There were items in my bag that I didn't want the world to see, but I thought, "Patty, he's just doing his job; say something nice."
Me: I'm sure this isn't fun for you, having to go through everyone's bag.
Agent: I want to keep people safe!
Me: And I'm sure you will, Batman.
I didn't really call him Batman, but I thought it and think he heard it. Out of spite, he confiscated my mascara. But to his credit, he kept the other passengers safe from my tiny mascara tube.
Am I giving them the benefit of the doubt?
I'll never know why he acted that way. Maybe his supervisor had told him only to talk about safety, or he had a child in the hospital and was having an awful day. Or it's possible he was always grumpy and had taken that job to have power. It doesn't matter because I'll never see him again. But what about the people I see regularly that irritate me? Am I giving them the benefit of the doubt, especially when I don’t know their motivations?