Competitive?

The Fitbit I use

This morning I was flying back from Mexico.  I was the third one off the plane.    In LAX there are some choices to be made as you navigate customs.   First, if you get off in a 60 gate you need to go down some stairs and then along a long hall.   I normally avoid escalators and use stairs when I can.  Indeed it is usually quicker to use the stairs.   But then there is a long hall that you must go down - they have a people mover but I normally choose to walk it.   That comes from a device I carry called the Fitbit - which measures your exercise each day.   The hall means perhaps 500 extra steps, out of the 10,000 minimum I try to do each day.   But as I was walking the hall I noticed a guy who was on the people mover and walking - thus going faster than me.   We got to the customs check in and I went to Global Entry - but there was no one landing at the time - so it was almost as easy to go through the regular line.  That is not normally the case.

I then walked down the long hall to get to baggage pick up.   I never check bags. - this guy was traveling light so I thought he would pick up a bag- but NO!!!!   We then got to check out and I went into the Global Entry line again and he came up on the other side to me and started to go forward but the Customs Agent asked me to go first.   We then went out of the customs area and up to the TSA security check in (not in the least as effective as Global Entry).  We chose roughly the same line he went right I went left - but his line moved faster.   He got through the scanning device sooner than I - bummer!!!!

But then he got to the benches near TSA and I found that he had to re-tie his shoes.   No experienced traveller wears tie shoes in this age.   So from the plane to the exit from TSA I beat him by a couple of steps.  He never knew that he was in this competitive contest.    Did I mention that I am competitive?