IGNORANCE...

 

 

My hand luggage and backpack were meticulously packed for the journey, and since they were pretty portable, I decided to keep them with me instead of getting them checked in. 

On arrival at security checks, I was asked to declare all my liquids, and with a clean conscience, I brought out all my deodorants, perfumes, body lotion, liquid soap, toothpaste, makeup foundation, etc...

It took me by surprise when, at once, the immigration officer gathered together all the above items (excluding one of the smallest bottles of my perfume) and said to me: “we’ll have to trash these”. 😳

• You said…? I asked him like I didn’t hear him quite well the first time.

And he firmly repeated himself: “We’ll have to put these ones in the bin”, he paraphrased.

At that point, I was like “trash”? “Bin”? What’s the relationship between my newly purchased body cream and the bin? I really wasn’t clear what he meant and why for goodness sake he’ll want to shove all my stuff in the bin. Maybe the word “bin” had a different meaning in the embassy. I thought. So I asked:

• Which bin? I asked.
• That one right there. He pointed towards a bin nearby, to me. 
• Looking him straight in his eyeballs I asked: “But why do you want to throw my items into the bin?” (Did I tell you I have finished using them? I asked inaudibly)
• And he responded “Because they’re over 100ml which is the required quantity of liquids for hand luggage.

Hmmm... at once I felt weak! I wasn’t aware of this, I must have skipped reading it on my flight ticket. But it was already too late to do anything now.

You know how when preparing for a journey you do some quick shopping for your basic necessities; unfortunately for me, I just purchased those items the day before (my body cream, perfumes & deodorant, toothpaste, liquid soap)… and you’re just gonna trash them right before my eyes? It cost me money to get them, not just money, Pounds! 😭

Sad thing was that a few of them were half-used, and the content in them would not even weigh up to 100ml, but because their containers state 400ml, the immigration officer insisted on trashing them. I then pleaded with him to allow me take part of my body lotion, at least scoop out a little quantity into a container for keeps, but all my pleading fell into deaf ears. And right before my eyes, he did the trashing!😭😭😭

It hurt me even more because he was so unkind and unsympathetic in the way he went about it, there was no iota of pity in his voice even when he was trying to explain why to me.

I stood there dumbfounded, feeling as though I should dive into the bin to recover my property, but I couldn’t.

I was livid! All I could do was frown as I walked through the checks to get my bags from the other end. Once they finished scrutinizing all my liquids, my bags were then returned to me. Meanwhile, prior to my turn at security checks, I had noticed that other people were going seamlessly, without any of their belongings getting trashed, but of all those people I was the only one who received such attention. I didn’t feel good about it, and deep down I knew I needed some explanation, and I wasn’t leaving there without getting it. So I requested an audience with one of the immigration officers who had handed me back my luggage.

- Please, can I ask you a question? I said to her.

- Sure. She responded.

- I noticed that from all the passengers here, I was the only one whose items were trashed, and I didn’t really feel good about it, please is there a reason why?”

And she calmly replied.

- That’s because all the others had liquids that met the required quantity. 

My reply was “ok then, thanks”.

Although part of me still felt upset about losing my precious properties to the bin, at least, this explanation sounded a bit reasonable. Taking the other angry half of me I left the security checks, immediately I phoned my Aunt, whining like a baby: ‘they trashed ALLLLL my stuff, I said to her... 😭... and as expected, she consoled me (which was what I needed more than anything at that moment), she further confirmed that that was a usual occurrence for anyone who did not heed the required maximum quantity of liquid for air travel.

This was my ignorance displayed before me, not ‘village people’, not hate or racism, just ignorance! And like me, many of you may have had similar situations where instead of blaming the result on your ignorance and learning from it, you’re casting and binding, cussing, or creating a scene, and even incriminating the devil. 😂 

This reminds me of those paranoid customers who shout inside the banking halls. Before you do your ‘gra gra’, pause and think twice, you might just be ignorant of certain things.

Some of the things that have happened to you may not be witchcraft or wickedness, it may just be sheer ignorance. And the best you can do for yourself is to up your game next time. Unlearn and relearn. 

I believe It’s not a crime to be ignorant, but it becomes a problem when an ignorant person refuses to accept his ignorance, and learn! Double wahala! 😂

Little wonder they say “ignorance is not an excuse for breaking the law”!

We learn every day!

 

I’m sharing this story for you to pick a lesson or two, and I hope you do. 

Cheers.

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