This summer my family and I went on a trip to Seal Beach, California. My grandmother lives in California, so we were going to stay with her. My grandmother’s house is very important to me. It is a place where I feel comfortable and a place that reminds me of my childhood.
On the first day of my trip, when we went to California, our plane was travelling out to the track to go up in the air. All the sudden, the plane was stopped and we were not moving. The pilot got on the microphone and said everyone needed to sit down and stay still. At first, I was scared, was there something wrong with the plane? After five minutes of sitting on the track, the pilot turned the plane around and called the airport police to come on the plane. What is going on? Is there a bomb or fire arm on the plane? After about ten minutes, the police officers escorted seven individuals off the plane. One group looked German and the other looked Middle Eastern. I immediately judged and thought that it had something to do with terrorist. Later during the flight, we found out that the two groups got into a heated argument. The pilot was scared that a fight could possibly erupt in the air and he didn’t want anything to happen that would threaten anyone’s safety. When we finally landed in California, I was thankful that nothing did happen and that it was an overall safe flight.
My first and second day in California, I relaxed and got some sun. It was nice to experience what it was like to be not stressed again. It was a feeling of freedom that I haven’t experienced since I was a kid. Maybe it was because I went back to being that kid again. The relaxation helped me recognize the bigger things in the world rather than selfish focuses and greed.
On the third day of the vacation my family went to the National Weiner Dog races. They were cute and amusing. Watching the races helped me realize that you can have fun doing anything. Things that don’t seem that great, could turn out being amazing. I also realized that you should try new things. My parents thought me how to bet on the horse races and it was fun. Although we only made a $0.80 profit, it seemed like so much more because it was something new and exciting.
On the seventh day, we packed up and went home. It seemed like a normal airport trip, but then all the sudden I got stopped in security. Me! How could I be stopped? How could a teenage, 5’2” girl be stopped? They ended up checking me for explosives. After they checked me, they told me that I was clear to go to my flight. I think that the experience humbled me though. I had instantly thought that the foreign people on the plane were carrying explosives, but at the same time I never thought about other people. I mean it is a common judgment. They never did anything suspicious that would make me think they were terrorists, yet I assumed. If they were a different race, then I would have seen the situation differently. I truly learned that I should treat others the way I want to be treated. Getting stopped was kind of like karma in a weird way.
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