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Liquids and Gels Discarded With Weary Surrender
Gurumeet Kaur discards her bottled water as she waits at Dulles for her flight. A Dulles employee said she saw a woman weeping after tossing $250 in perfume and makeup.
(By James A. Parcell -- The Washington Post)
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Duy Doan, 26, of Fairfax said his heart dropped when he heard the news on television hours before he was to board a United flight to London to visit a friend.
Still, by 3 p.m., he was in the check-in line, clutching his girlfriend's hand. Then came the doubts, the thought of trying to sleep on the plane and not knowing what could happen.
After 90 minutes in line, he decided to cancel his trip -- "I don't think it's worth it," he said -- and to drive to Montreal with his girlfriend.
As news of the plot sank in, however, some of the fear and frustration evaporated, replaced by resignation.
Wanda Jameson, who was flying to Detroit out of BWI, said she did not mind giving up a pump bottle of Dove soap that could have come in handy while she attended a training session for a plumbers union.
"This is great. I'd rather be safe than sorry," said Jameson, a plumbing instructor who lives in Waldorf.
Some of the most emotional scenes occurred as people opened carry-on bags to reveal their personal -- and sometimes costly -- grooming secrets. And then trash them.
"I'm a little depressed," said Brett Boyd, 37, a pharmaceutical sales representative who said goodbye to a $10 bottle of Crew hair gel and other toiletries.
At Dulles, one man splashed some cologne on his face before pitching the bottle. Lobby manager Roseline Sarfaz said she saw a woman weeping over tossing out perfume and other makeup that cost more than $250.
Nathaniel Hedman and his wife were at Dulles to see off his parents when several passengers began jettisoning toiletries.
A woman from Ghana invited them to take a package of fake eyelashes, which came with a packet of liquid. Another gave them nail polish. Someone else parted with a $42 box of Curve Crush-brand "daily deodorant," "cologne travel spray" and skin soother."
"Oh, they were upset -- especially the lady from Ghana," Hedman said.
There was some happiness later in the day. A cheer went up in the international arrivals area of Dulles at 6:45 p.m. when the first passengers of United Flight 921 from London emerged from the customs area, looking dazed by a long day that ended with a long flight and the bright lights of TV news cameras.
"This is all we were allowed to take onboard," said Martha McColey of Hazleton, Pa., toting a small, clear plastic bag with her passport, wallet and prescription bottles. "They wouldn't even let us take a book."
The flight was more than four hours late, but passengers and their families were relieved after the hours of worry. Arnold resident Gail Somerville first learned about the bomb plot from her daughter, Monique Mobray, 16, who woke her with a phone call at 5:15 a.m. from London.
"She said, 'Ma, turn on the TV,' " Somerville said. "I thought, 'Oh, no, this can't be happening.' "
Staff writers Annie Gowen, Nick Miroff, Sandhya Somashekhar, Theresa Vargas and Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this report.
