Racism much on @wizzair Berlin?
Berlin airport. WizzAir's gate agent scans my ticket. Smooth. Then he stops. Looks at my passport again. Longer this time.
"Stop. That bag in your hand, you'll need to pay for it."
I look around. Half the gate is holding shopping bags just like mine. Nobody else got stopped.
"It's nothing to you, but it's a lot to the airline," he says.
In my "a lot to the airline" bag: a vinyl record of Etta James I'd hunted for for months, and a rolled-up poster I didn't want creased.
"Are you serious? You want me to pay for THIS?"
"Yes."
He turns away. Gate closed. Conversation over, by his decision, not mine.
"Is there a manager I can speak to?"
"I am the manager."
"What's your name?"
"You want to complain? We don't give out our names."
70 euros. That's what it cost me. For a record and a poster.
On the plane, an elderly German man leans over: "What happened back there with that guy?"
I tell him. "I think it was my passport," I add.
"That's strange." Pause. "What passport do you have?"
"Israeli."
"Ah. That explains it. I'm sorry."
Politics aside, I just want to be treated like the paying customer I am. With respect. With equality. Not as a target for cheap discrimination.
@wizzair@WizzAirLtd #wizzair #racism #discrimination