Welcome to America

As surreal as parts of Asia felt as first, I landed in Dallas-Fort Worth and felt just as off-balance. Thick southern drawls replaced the chatter of Mandarin and Japanese, girls were wearing jeans (and sometimes cowboy hats) instead of skirts, and when I looked around I could read every sign. The familiarity was ... unfamiliar.

Arriving from an international flight, we had to exit and then re-enter security, and when we did, one of the screeners, a rather stocky gentleman, seemed unhappy with us, so he climbed his makeshift soapbox, a chair, and offered "instructions" in a tone about as aggressive and condescending as any I can recall: "okay now look people" ... and the berating began. I noticed a refined-looking Asian couple, elderly, who recoiled. Once it was over I turned to a young lady whom I had met on the flight and said "welcome to America."

I was angry that this was the first picture of the US some travelers would see. Remember the description of my layover in Tokyo's Narita airport?