No Line

Last updated on: September 23, 2010 at 4:30 pm by Marwa Aly

No Line 2010-09-23T16:30:14-04:00 Marwa Aly

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In a recent vacation with my husband and son, we decided we wanted to “see it all” so we customized our tickets to go through one route, but return from another. Visiting several countries, we used a mix of planes, rental cars, and the old fashion crossing borders by foot.

At the border crossing of one particular country, a Middle Eastern country (I’ll leave it at that), I was not too surprised when I noticed that there was a bit of chaos and a lack of order and organization at the immigration/customs/visa area. My husband and I, along with 3 suit cases, 2 handbags, and a toddler in a stroller waited behind what appeared to be the last person in the “line”. Very quickly the “line” filled up with people on our left, right, behind, and in front. Yes, people were cutting the line. Again not too surprising, but frustrating. My husband did a good job staying behind the person we originally started out behind, but the task wasn’t as easy for me, pushing a stroller. Before I knew it, people were huffing and puffing about me. They weren’t happy about the stroller and the fact that I attached a rolling suitcase to it- making cutting the line for others difficult. “Just push her bag out of the way and get in front of her,” I heard a woman telling her son.

I’m a fairly sensitive person, so when I reached the point of absolute frustration with the rudeness and pushiness of the people, combined with my helplessness for my hot and hungry crying son (it was nearly 118 degrees Fahrenheit) , I started to cry. I felt like such a baby, and was angry at myself for letting my tears come down, but I couldn’t help it. An employee came up to me and asked me why I was crying, I tattled on the people like a young first grader would through my sobs. “And they’re not staying in line!” I complained. “There is no line. You need to be patient,” he replied. I gave him a furious stare. I wanted to yell out a hundred and one words at him, but I was too weak to let out another word. He asked me to wait on a bench, to the side, as my husband waited in “line”.

I sat on the bench as asked, held my son, closed my eyes and prayed to Allah. I wasn’t going to let those last 30 minutes ruin my vacation so I quickly recollected myself. Elhamdulela things were much better after we went through the border. At the last two countries we visited, lines were also long at the airports, but I was thankful that there were at least organized lines.

Hoda

Hoda is a wife and a mother to a stillborn daughter in heaven and a one year old son. She is an elementary public school teacher and lives in Virginia.

Normal

false

EN-US

X-NONE

AR-SA

Motherhood Reflections

Previous Post

September 19, 2010

Outsourcing

Next Post

September 28, 2010 Hard Work

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book and Movie Reviews Community Connecting with Allah Counselor's Corner Environment fatherhood five stars GrowBaba Spotlight GrowMama Picks Growmama Roundup Health Light Fare marriage Motherhood Reflections moving Parenthood Photography Poems Schooling Self-development tragedy Tutorials Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 November 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is Christian stewardship?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Caring for God's gifts Ignoring others Taking from the poor Hiding talents