Conveyor belt personalities

As holiday season readies to hit high gear, it is time to look, a bemused way at how personalities might be gauged by the type of behaviour people display while they wait at the airport carousel spewing out their luggage.

There are those who deplane and rush towards the carousel with grim faced determination, grab a trolley and stand poised to snatch their bag. They are what psychologists might label as 'A-term personalities', aggressive, ambitious and focussed.

Then, there are the laidback opposites, the A-pposites, who trundle towards the trolleys, pick one out and examine the wheels, could not care less if there is a crowd at the carousel and their bag is revolving madly on the belt screaming: pick me up. These are the people who seem like a cool wind in a desert in the Mumbai mayhem.

Others knock people about, stamp on toes, and are in dire danger of falling on the conveyor belt themselves. They are most likely to poke people in the eye with their umbrellas during the rains.

Some, lift up every bag thinking it is theirs; mull a few seconds over the label, sigh, and put it back again. They would read all stock advice, invest in the stock market but if lose, say with a sigh: this is destiny.

Then come those who mumble under their breath: 'the airline has lost my bag, I knew it', even before the conveyor belt starts rolling. They are the prophets of doom.

Others have a bright ribbon tied on to their bags. They might be the notoriously absent-minded ones with a caring spouse who shouted to them as they left home: "remember, yours is the one with the orange ribbon."

Trouble is, they cannot remember which colour ribbon is the one on their bag.u00a0

Some lift huge bags off the belt with a proud flourish. They believe that Bollywood actors with their six-packs are on steroids and fat burners. They might even whisper to the uninterested person waiting for his
baggage next to them: "you can't get a body like that without some 'help' (smirk, smirk) believe me, I work out everyday."

Then, there are those who read columns full of tripe like these, while awaiting their baggage and wonder if they fit into any of these slots. They are the time-wasters, who are most likely to fish out a pen and mark out personality quizzes that appear in magazines and go something like: 'What dating kind are you?' Your scores would indicate: Adventurous, Romantic, Safe or Dangerous.

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