Before I get started with the new post, let me add something about the first installment.  In no way was I trying to make light or be critical of the lady who opted not to climb the stairs.  At the time, there didn’t appear to be any immediate threat and there were additional doors not too far away to offer a possible exit.  My only concern by taking that set of doors was it appeared they would lead back into the building…and we were trying to get out.

With that said, if it had been an actual emergency, I would have made sure that everyone in my group got up those steps one way or another - or I literally would have died trying.  Now, let’s get on with Part Two. 

So I arrive at the airport on Sunday morning with quite a bit of time to kill before my flight home.  I’m at my assigned gate and I’m one of the first to take a seat in the gate waiting area.  Soon, other passengers begin to filter in.  A man who looks to be in his early to mid 50’s sits across from me and a little later another man in his 50’s sits about four seats to my left.  Then a young woman who appears to be in her early to mid 20’s sits about five seats down from the man sitting across from me.  

The men are reading the paper, the young woman is on her phone, and I’m listening to my Ipod and watching life pass by.  While we wait, the usual announcements of flights currently boarding and ”don’t accept items from people you don’t know” are being broadcast. 

Soon, another man appears and approaches the young woman.  I couldn’t hear what he said to her, but I saw her hesitate, then nod.  The man sets down a canvas briefcase-type carrier and a smaller canvas satchel on the chair next to her.  Then he walks away.

Once again, cop mode kicks in.  (I must be in cop mode a lot more often than I realize!)  Anyway, I’m thinking to myself, Darn, I wish I’d heard what he said to her.  I hope she knows that guy and isn’t accepting luggage from a stranger.  The young woman seems unconcerned as she flips open her phone and makes another call. 

I’m uncomfortable with the situation, so I decide to move away from the woman and the luggage.  I go across the room to the next gate over where I can clearly see the woman and watch to see when/if the man returns.  While I’m watching, my mind is racing.  My first thought is the guy may be a terrorist and he’s just left some kind of explosive device with the young lady.  Or, is this guy traveling with the woman?   Did he asked her if she wanted something to eat or drink and she hesitated with her reply because she wasn’t sure if she was thirsty?  Then I got to thinking about the man approaching her in particular.  There were the other two men and myself - all of us more easily accessible than the young woman.  Did he approach her because knew her, or did he single her out because she was young and distracted and less likely to refuse to ”watch” his luggage?  Or, did he just think she was cute and wanted to meet her?

The man did return - no food, no drink.  He did sit next to the young lady and they did talk briefly, but my gut impression was they were strangers.  But the question to be asked is:  Could this have been a test by terrorists to see how willing people are to go against common sense and security measures and “watch” the luggage of strangers?  Or was it a co-worker of the woman who asked her to watch his stuff while he used the restroom?  Was it her boyfriend and they were having a fight so they weren’t talking much to one another?

Now I’m sure a lot of you are thinking, why didn’t you just go ask the woman if she knew the guy.  It’s a very good question and I did - however I had to wait until we gathering in groups to board the flight.  The man was sitting right next to her right up until we boarded and, on the chance he was up to no good, I didn’t want to tip him off I was suspicious.  Once we were getting ready to board he moved away and I did ask her if she knew him.  Once again she hesitated, and then said “yes”.  I think she was reacting to my official “cop face,” because my intincts tell me that she was lying.  If I could do the whole thing over again, I would have asked her the moment the man left her with his luggage.  And I kick myself for not doing so.   Obviously nothing happened on the flight and I am grateful. 

But my question is this:  Why, in this day and age would someone go against security measures set in place to keep us safe?  My theory is this…I think the young woman knew better.  I think she was caught by surprise.  So my suggestion to all of you is to think about and know what you will say if a stranger comes up to you and says, “My son is five and is in the restroom by himself.  Would you please watch my luggage while I go get him?”  (Or any other excuse someone might give).  I think the perfect reply is, “Oh, no, I’m sorry, it’s against airport regulations.  However, I’m sure if you take your luggage to the clerk at the counter, they’ll be happy assist you.”  Then find an airline or airport official and notify them of the person trying to leave their luggage with a stranger.

One final thing…When I did arrive back in L.A., I contacted “people who might be interested” about my observations and gave them what information I could…’cause ya just never know.

Until next time;

KMA367

If you were at the Romance Writers of America recent national conference you know that one of the days the fire alarm in our hotel was activated.  Most of us were in workshops expanding our minds and gaining valuable writing knowledge. 

In the workshop I was in, the alarm sounded and the speaker stopped speaking and we all kind of looked around in bewilderment.  Was there a fire?  Was this a fire drill?  An alarm malfunction?  Along with the alarm and flashing lights a pre-recorded voice advised guests to “leave the building now.”

I was somewhat surprised by that directive.  My experience with similar alarms has been that the canned voice usually announces that the alarm activation was being investigated and further instructions would soon be issued.  But not on this day.  The voice to said  get out of the building.

That was when “cop-mode” kicked in.  Seeing a sign for an exit directly behind the stage where the speaker was standing, I moved in that direction.  However, when I was able to clearly see the exit doors, I quickly realized that the stage floor was about three feet above the ground and many of the women in the group would have a problem climbing down off the platform without injury.  So I directed everyone to exit the room from the entry doors and made sure we all got out of the room.  (I was the bossy redhead wearing a white jacket). 

As we exited the room there were a number of Marriott security officers advising the flood of women to exit the building.  But then another security officer came dashing by yelling, “False alarm!  False alarm!”  So we started moving back into the workshop classroom…until even more security officers arrived in the area.  Once again we were directed to leave the building.

Frustrated by the ever-changing instructions, I made the decision I was going to get out of the building and directed other women to follow.   Most of the women in the hallway and pouring from workshop rooms and headed toward the nearby escalators.  I deliberately avoided the escalators and elevators.  Walking across the hallway I chose a different exit that led to an exhibition-size hall and then some other doors that appeared, from my estimation, to lead to the outer perimeter of the building.  Our group was small - maybe fifteen or so women.  The rest had flocked to the escalators.  When the we reached the second set of doors that I’d thought would lead outside, we were confronted with a tall set of stairs that led to doors that opened to the outside.  One woman who saw the stairwell uttered words to the effect of “No flippin’ way,” and turned around to find another exit out of the building.  The remainder of our group climbed the stairs which took us to the loading ramp and to the driveway of the hotel to relative safety.

So what’s the point of this blog?  I want to tell you what was going through my mind during this event.  When the fire alarm first activated, I thought the natural thing…possible fire.  But as we all made our way to the hallway and I saw the huge mass of people waiting to ride the escalator to the lobby level I suddenly remember the news report I’d seen that very morning about two Marriott hotels in Jakarta being blown up by suicide bombers.  My knowledge and training dictated that I not “go the normal route”, just in case this was a terrorist attack.  If that was the case, where do you think an explosive device might have been left to detonate to harm the most people?  Perhaps near the escalators?  I was also concerned where any secondary devices might be placed.  I also wondered if our group, because we write about romance and sex and our heroines are smart, strong women, would be attractive to someone desiring to make a point to the United States.  

Now while my mind works by thinking of worst-case scenarios, that isn’t the way most people think.  Without further evidence that the event was nothing more than it appeared - someone activating the fire alarm - it would have done me no good to start shouting my thoughts to the hundreds of women in my vicinity.  In fact, it could have caused panic and possibly injuries.  So my decision was to get as many people as I could out of the building safely by the quickest and best route I could find, and that’s what I did.

I later learned that the day before, the over-flow hotel, the Omni, had also had a similar occurrance with a fire alarm activation.  Which makes me wonder if perhaps this was a “test run” by someone studying the response of guests and emergency responders to an emergency in an American hotel.

I’m not writing this post to scare you.  I’m writing it so that if you are faced with a similar situation you will think ”outside the envelope” and do your best to keep yourself safe. 

One final thought…If this had been a real emergency I would have been a lot more assertive in my directions and there is no way I would let anyone who was within sight of an exit door go back inside the building to find another exit.  One way or another I would get you up those stairs and out of that building. 

Watch for Part Two of this blog within the next several days.

Until next time…

KMA367