I’m in Belfast again. In fact I am in Bristol Airport so often that other travellers are beginning to recognise and talk to me! This time I was stuck in a “Speedy Boarding” Easyjet queue that was slower than the “Slow” queue. I suddenly was aware that my bag was vibrating and carefully started to investigate – acutely aware that the same bag mostly contained various weapons and blood-soaked clothes. A blood-stained knife fell out in the process of turning off my electric toothbrush. Smiling profusely and trying not to sound too Iranian I apologised and pushed everything back into my bag (which actually also has bloodstains on the outside).
The man behind me in the queue then starts talkling to me about the length of the queue! He clearly thinks that the knife is not an obvious topic of conversation but that we are kindred spirits because we have a mutual waiting experience.
Actually, he was South African, as is my mother. So we had a good discussion about SA. It moved onto sport and I realised I had torn loyalties. I am British, but if it comes to supporting England or Scoitland it will always be Scotland (my dad was Scottish) – but actually I probably have more South African blood than anything else. The Lions are in SA right now, but I want them to win. Yet if the Springboks came here – I think I would want them to win … unless they were the favourites in which case everything changes.
I have a strong feeling about all of this – its just that I don’t know what it is!
Filed under: General , airports, belfast, queing, south africa, sports, travel
