"Where your form?" he asked. "I don't have one," I replied. "How you expect to get your bag then?" "I expect you to give it to me," I said. "Why you didn't fill out a form?" he asked. "All I want from you," I said, "is my bag. Can you give it to me?" "You," he said, defiantly, "will be filling out the form before you collect your bag today." "Do you know who X is", I asked, naming CAL's VP for HR. His sneer answered he did not, and could care less. Without speaking, he turned and walked through doors that swished open. I followed him, uninvited. He began talking loudly, the oldest trick of the civil service bully. "I trying to explain to you," he shouted, for the benefit of the security check people. He didn't expect me to shout back, "You not explaining a damn thing," I said, "you're just not doing your job!" "You will be filling out a form just now," he threatened. "Keep it up," I said, "you're adding paragraphs." We reached my bag and I pounced on it. He walked away, fuming, dismissing me with his hand. The customs officer asked where he was, because he was supposed to escort me to her. "I think," I said, "he went to get a form for me to fill out."
BC Pires had a smooth landing but bumpy arrival