When Introverts Attack!

It's fair to say Mike and I have different approaches to stress. I'm talky, he's introverted and not talky when he's in distress. I'm not always sure how to handle when he gets silent, his driving becomes more aggressive and it's clear something's Not Right.

He did have kind of a bad day. His easy to fix computer problem took 4 hours for the campus IT folks to fix. That pushed everything else back and by the time he came to pick me up at work, he was not in the best mood. And when he rolled down the window to take the parking ticket, it got stuck down as it is wont to do. Even more annoying when you have a plane to catch.

When we got to the airport, there was a trainee at the X ray machine. While I'm waiting for my carry on to get screened, I mention the toiletries double standard to the extra TSAs milling around. My toiletries always get checked. Last time I got scolded for having them in too large a plastic bag. This time, for not having a gel deodorant in a plastic bag.

Mike never has to bag and display his toiletries; they go through in his manly leatherlike toiletry bag with nary an extra screening or even having to remove it from his suitcase. Tees me off. The TSA chick said his SHOULD get screened every time and be bagged separately. Yeah, I'll let you know when I see that happen.

The screener in training calls for a hand inspection of my suitcase--heard her say something about batteries. Huh? They look in the front pocket of my suitcase and pull out the electronic, remote controlled whoopee cushion Mike bought at the Dollar Tree Tuesday. I holler "That's not mine! Why'd you put that in my suitcase?!" At least the TSA folks thought that was funny.

Mike was still laughing when I caught up to him. "I feel better now," he says. If I'd known that would break through the funk, I would have gotten busted for a suspicious electronic whoopee cushion sooner.