# LAX bomb scare — LAPD with machine guns

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-lax-bomb-scare-machine-guns
- Themes: travel, humour, fear, USA
- Life situations: airports, travel

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Los Angeles airport bomb scare wakes him better than coffee; Canadian-terminal walk; LAPD car screeches up with sirens; cops emerge with semi-automatics — not for him.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

bomb scare that was actually wonderful having a bomb scare because it's very boring going on this aircraft we have a bomb scare and wow wonderful it wakes you up it's better than a cup of coffee and it was it got a lovely story for me which I mentioned here at the time because as I was going from one terminal cuz a Canadian aircraft came in one time I had just to walk only a couple hundred meters so without in the single Airlines terminal M was walking a police car you know an LAPD police car right in the movies came screaming down with it Sirens flashing and zooo it really exciting and it screeched to a hul right in front of me like put on the brake stand and went kind of halfway up the pavement and I thought my God they're going to arrest me what have I done they weren't interested in me instead these two cops came out and they didn't have guns they had like semi automatic machine guns I thought wow this is really in

## Teaching point

Even a bomb scare can be more interesting than the in-flight movie.

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

During a bomb scare at Los Angeles airport, two police officers leapt from their car with machine guns, raced up the stairs, and stopped at the first landing, out of breath. Ajahn Brahm's fear dissolved into laughter. On long journeys he takes one minute at a time. Staying present keeps you from exhausting yourself.

## Source

- [How To Be A High Flyer | Ajahn Brahm | 6 Mar 2009](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tOI6z8lcLc) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 14:31 to 15:37: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tOI6z8lcLc&t=871s