I’m sitting in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport right now. I'm on my way to Denver to speak at the Catholic Media Conference.
I just successfully finished dodging through the TSA labyrinth of pain. My belt and shoes are back on now. I've collected my accouterments. I am struck by how inhumanely the TSA workers treat us, and how inhumanely the flyers treat the TSA workers in return.
It’s a ping pong match of disrespect.
Then, I go to purchase a green tea. Again, the customers in line are cold to the coffee bar workers. An alien might assume that the customers are being forced to buy something they don't want from people they don't like. The coffee bar workers are doing their best to smile and take orders.
When I make my order, I try a little experiment. I say, “Good morning ma’am, may I please have a green tea and a bottled water. Thank you. I appreciate it. Have a nice day.”
A smile and some personal friendliness immediately transform the ladies behind the counter. To give them a smile and something personal was like giving a Route 44 Sonic Ocean Water to a man dying of thirst in an Arab desert. A smile can be a fountain of life. Oh, and unlike my comrades in line, I actually received shiny happy service from the ladies behind the counter.
It feels good to be courteous. I wish I had seasoned the TSA workers with a little smile and a kind word. Maybe even a “God bless you.”
Call it the theology of working your way through an airport. Shouldn’t we Christians be courteous? We speak a lot about the theology of the human body and the dignity of human life. Shouldn’t we also show courtesy to the TSA and the coffee workers? Shouldn't "smiling" be part of the theology of the body? The face is the mirror of the soul. It should be that people everywhere implicitly know, “Christians have joy. I like them. Maybe I'll become one of them?”
Godspeed,
Taylor
PS: This is completely unrelated. I just now saw at the airport newsstand a magazine (the Atlantic) cover-title that reads “What Straights Can Learn From Gay-Couples: Why Homosexuals have Happier and More Meaningful Relationships Than Heterosexuals.” Something like that. The media war is on. They won’t stop until they have full victory. Keep Calm and Keep Scapulars On...
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