RED LIPSTICK

There was a long queue at the counter, the girls and boys behind the counter were dressed in bright uniforms, the lipstick on some girls more brighter than required. Red lipstick, all the girls had the same shade , they either shopped together or shared the same lipstick? .I looked around at the motley crowd around me, people of all nationalities, some excited at the prospect of flying to a new destination, weary travelers bored and tired just wanting to get to the other side of the planet, kids howling and mauling and running berserk and the parents berating themselves for bringing up such monsters into the world. Businessmen in suits closing up deals or so they made us believe with their antics, never a boring moment here.

Slowly I inch forward and check in my luggage, collect the boarding pass and march towards the immigration and security check counters to complete the formalities.

The clerks at the immigration counters look bored, and robotic in their movements. . I stood there shuffling my feet and warming myself to the endless expressions and inaudible exchanges all around me. My turn to get my passport stamped, a new guy came to counter, gestured at me and as I wait for him to signal me to look at the camera, he strikes a conversation with his colleague. Laughingly he said that yesterday he asked a passenger to look at the camera and he was waving at it and was all smiles as if he was on Skype. To this his colleague replied that when he asked a passenger with 4 kids to pick up his kid for the camera click,  lifted the same kid 4 times. As they encountered a problem while  processing the passports they realized what this guy was doing and asked for an explanation.  He answered that this kid was the lightest to lift up! Along with them I laughed too saying "All  in a day's work "and walked away collecting my passport .