The Hottest Day of the Summer
Today, I was hard at work at the airport. I had just removed a large bottle of honey from a gentleman’s bag after strong protest from him. As he collected the items I allowed him to keep, the whole place went black. My first thought was, “secure the area!” he might try to steal his honey back. Luckily, that wasnt the case. However, this was the start of hours of working without power. Within a minute, the backup generaters powered on and we had to figure out what to do with the passengers currently being processed. This is because the x ray machines and metal detectors didnt work! It didnt take long to discover that one machine was functional in the carry on section, and none in the checked bag section. This meant that EVERY checked bag had to be hand searched! Clearly it was going to be a long day. Added problems were: the water in bathrooms didnt work, the stores couldnt make food and lighting was limited.
The biggest problem however, was the lack of air conditioning. We worked for hours in a poorly ventilated room dealing with irate passengers. Due to the humidity in the air, the ground quickly went wet, then dirty, then slippery! People were sliding everywhere. In the carry on section where people have to take off thier shoes for security, many were reluctant because thier bare feet were forced to walk on the wet dirty ground.
I was sweating bullets having to work twice as hard to keep things moving in so much heat, my shirt was soaked. When I got home, I realised my underwear was too. This definately was the hottest day of the year for me!
Here is the newspaper report on it: click here
(why did they only mention the customs people, and not how it was airport security that saved the airport from delays?)
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