Ooops!!!

I suppose we could have been put in jail! But we weren’t!

Instead we created an hour of laughs and camaraderie. We made friends and partied with the U.S. Customs and New York Police Department.

I didn’t know my chopping knife was still in the carry on bag that I recently took to India. It was neatly wrapped in a decorated envelope where I had written, “Let’s cook together!” That was the knife I had prepared to give to my friends Iris and Alan. I brought it back for them from India. But I didn’t see them during my brief landing in Toronto. So the knife was still in my bag.

I was a bit surprised that my bags were taking so long to be processed. And I was even more surprised when the security officer said to me with squinting eyes and a firm stance “Why are you carrying a knife in your bag?” But when I allowed myself to recreate what I call “the movie in my head’, I remembered the knife. There was no use denying it. I had to face the music. At this point I was less afraid of the NYPD than I was about dealing with Paul!

“Oooops!” I thought. “Oooops!” I said out loud. The chief security officer was not impressed with my giggle or my story. I had nothing to hide, and, I was even open to them taking my knife. There was no question though, this guy meant business!

“Don’t move away from here.” He ordered. “Stay away from your husband and don’t touch.” “Have you put your hands inside his bags at any time?” “What were you thinking?” were some of the questions he threw at me while we waited for the policewoman to come and interrogate me.

“What were you thinking?” asked Geraldina, the female police officer that came to interrogate me. I wasn’t allowed to touch the knife. I was ordered to stand still. There were photographs and photocopies and measurements and diagrams. I was expecting a full body search!

I told her the story…. how I had forgotten about the knife…..how I recently travelled to India…..how I love to cook with my friends back in Toronto…..how I love to travel and meet new people….how I’m a teacher and try to find places to share my skills and knowledge….how I practise Yoga and look for ways of spreading universal love and compassion to others. She wasn’t impressed, but she did believe me and after some photographs, and photocopies of my passport, and measurements of the knife, and information input into the computers, they let me go.

By the end, the people involved, 3 New York police officers, 5 security guards and me were all good friends. We laughed and hugged as we said good-bye. It was actually fun…. in a weird sort of way.

I’m not sure Paul felt that way. He kept his distance during the ordeal. The others thought he was mad at me as they witnessed him sitting quietly away from the spotlight. But I knew different! He sat quietly thinking about how lucky he is to have me in his life and how exciting my presence makes his days. He was thinking about how alive his life is with me and how he wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world. How else would he have so much fun!!! Ya think????