SSS Tango Fire - Your Airport Chaos Is Ready For Immediate Delayed Departure

The US has dealt me a second blow! The zipper on my bag busted the other morning as I was packing to head downstairs for the bus. It wasn’t overloaded, it just broke. When we collected our bags @ Minneapolis, my bag had copped a beating form the bag handlers - one of my padlocks had a huge gouge out of it and there was some small tears in the outer coating of the bag. All in all it was still functional so I didn’t make a complaint. I’m thinking that during the rough treatment that the zip was damaged & after I opened it, it was too never close again…!
Luckily we were travelling by bus. Had it been a plane ride, I pretty much would have been screwed! I now have a nice, new suitcase - one that I didn’t need! It sucked having to leave the other suitcase behind as it was a gift from the crew @ the Arts Centre before I left for the UK Tour. It did come with a lifetime guarantee but that’s at home & travelling a broken bag isn’t really an option! Beh!

The US is on ‘Amber Alert’ at the moment & all 20 of us Tango Firey’s are automatically deemed ‘suspicious’ because we only have a one way ticket. SSS appears on all our Boarding Passes & ta-da, welcome to Special Security Search! It’s the full baggage search, pat down, swab & time waste for us! It’s comical with the kids (what I call the cast) - especially the ones who don’t have as fluid English as the others. But, we’re all used to it now as it’s been happening over the last number of flights.

Checking in & then Baggage Claim are two of the funniest & also most frustrating times on tour. We all have our personal bag & then each person also checks in a Show Suitcase. Basically, we arrive at the airport & then 20 people & 40 odd pieces of luggage - plus carry on - burst into the Terminal. It’s a special kind of Argentine chaos - kill-om-bow (don’t know the spelling!).

We basically break every single airport rule that plays on repeat over the speakers. Bags are abandoned. Lots of yelling. Play fights & pushing & shoving. Cutting queues. Running around in a panic because your bag isn’t in the same place you abandoned it 5mins ago. Taking fluids, lighters & other assorted banned items through Security. Taking items from other people & placing them in your bag. Oversized & incorrect carry on luggage. We basically work as a team, with each person causing their own, unique & independent carnage, oblivious to the others, totally more important than your average citizen & with the blinkers on of “Must check in”.

Baggage claim is similar but slightly more scary as there has been times where I have not seen my bag but either Toni or Dan assures me that “it’s on that trolley” & point off into the distance. So far, they’ve been right…! But I’ve done the same to them! It’s a whole new level of trust, especially after loosing the laptop etc.! Tango Fire is a chaos that appears to have no structure but by each of us following our own independant & carefree routine each time, that is where the order & structure comes from… I think… That, or we’re just lucky… So far…. I think...

(Sorry no photos this time around! Tis a tad late & have to set the show up AGAIN tomorrow but there will be more happy snaps soon!)