On a recent trip to New York, I was in LAX.

There was a man in front of me.

I call him the wayward traveler.

Now, he was TSA certified, which means that he actually travels.

In order to get TSA certified, it means that you actually have to go through the process of being certified. And that means you actually have to get to the airport, you have to actually go through a question and answer period, and they have to check your flying history.

So this man definitely is someone who’s traveled and flown many times before, yet when he showed up at the airport this morning, he had three bags. Yeah, I counted them.

One bag, the zipper was open all of the way around, and it looked like it was going to blow up. Yet the security guards let him through the first checkpoint (which doesn’t mean he’s going to be able to get that gigantic, overstuffed burrito bag on an airplane).

He had two other bags with tons of stuff in there: shoes, headphones, potato chips, everything. Those bags were so stuffed that all of the stuff was flying out all over the place.

When he got to the security point, the guy looked at him and said, “Do you have any water?”

He goes, “Uhh, I don’t know.”

Holding up the line, he had to then go and search for water, which of course everybody in the year 2017 knows that water might blow up on an airplane. So we do not travel with water. We pay for the water at the airport and give them four times the price of what the water really is worth. It’s the benefit and the privilege of actually traveling.

The guy was out of it, and it’s amazing how many people are like that.

How many people are actually lost and confused when it comes down to traveling?

I can’t believe the amount of people who actually can and will be a traveler that just doesn’t understand what it’s like to be traveling.

Here’s the thing folks: if you’re getting on an airplane, get on an airplane and know the rules.

Get on an airplane and know that you don’t turn your carry-on bag sideways, you put it wheels first.

Get on a plane and understand that there are other people waiting behind you.

There are so many things that you can do to make traveling a lot easier.

Be conscious of the people behind you.

Be conscious of the people on the plane.

If you have a backpack, don’t hit people as you’re walking through the airplane in the head.

Realize your backpack is swinging from side to side and the aisle is really narrow.

It’s very simple, all of these things, and yet…

So many people live the life of the wayward traveler.

They are not aware of other people, which means that they’re probably not aware of other people in so many other ways as well.

And that’s basically the point of this little story about the wayward traveller.

Be mindful of people that are around you.

Be mindful of people in all ways.

It’s a lesson that our parents have taught us (or should have taught us).

The other day my daughter was picking her nose, and she decided the booger needed to land on my arm.

I looked at her and we had a long talk about it. She doesn’t like it when I get mad at her, which I don’t do often. But she looked at me, trying to rationalize why she put the booger on me.

She didn’t mean to. That’s always what kids will say. They don’t mean to. Well, what do you mean you didn’t mean to?

You stuck your finger in your nose.

You pulled out a booger.

I didn’t stick my finger in your nose, I didn’t pull out the booger.

But you did. It didn’t just come out on its own.

And then the booger found its way to my arm.

But yes you didn’t mean to do it.

It’s funny obviously, because it’s my daughter and she’s so young.

But I think a lot of people are the same way as adults.

They don’t mean to do things because they’re not aware, or maybe their parents taught them how to grow up in a zoo, so they’re not really aware of all of the things that actually can affect other people.

Be aware yourself, wayward traveler. Be aware of yourself, nose-picker. Don’t put the boogers where they don’t belong, and don’t hit people in the head.