TERMINAL ONE

For the majority of us, an airport is nothing more than a place to wait for a journey to begin.
But for some, an airport has become a home. In a perfect storm of unlucky events, Merhan
Karimi Nasseri found himself stranded at the Charles de Gaulle airport in France for more
than 17 long years.
In 1977, Merhan was stripped of his passport and kicked out of his home country of Iran for
protesting against the government. He fled to Europe, seeking asylum in several countries.
In 1981, he was given refugee status in Belgium, but his briefcase carrying proof of his status
was stolen in a Paris train station.
When he attempted to leave Paris on a flight to England, he was denied because he didnt
have the necessary papers. Police told him to stay put in the airport until they could figure
out a better solution.
Sixteen long years passed while Merhan sat on a red bench in Terminal One. He wrote daily
in a journal. He shaved every day in the public bathrooms. He smoked his cigars. In the
beginning, airport employees gave him food, but as his story spread, journalists began to
offer him money in exchange for an interview.
In 2004, Steven Spielberg even decided to make a movie about Merhan. He called it, The
Terminal. According to Merhan, he was given $250,000 for his story, but was unable to
access the money because he was still without proof of identification.
Finally, in 2006 after 17 years in the airport, Merhan became so ill that he had to
behospitalized. He has since been living in a homeless shelter in Paris.
Some say that by the end of his stay, Merhan had gone insane. There were too many people.
There was too much noise coming from the airports loud speakers. The wait was just too
long. It was as if he was in a lost dimension.
Sadly, Merhan isnt alone in his suffering. Several people have spent months and even years
trapped in airports, mostly for bureaucratic reasons like lost paperwork or no proof of
identification. Others choose the airport because theyd rather live there than on the street.
The next time youre at the airport, take a look around and imagine what itd be like to
actually live there. Would you manage to stay sane or would you lose your marbles like
Merhan reportedly did?

Vocabulary

perfect storm
an unlikely series of events that usually leads to a difficult situation
asylum
protection given by a foreign country to someone who is not safe in their own country
stay put
wait for further instructions
figure out
find a solution; gain a better understanding
lost dimension
existing in a world different from the norm
bureaucratic
rules made by the government or an organization that are often complicated and seemingly impossible to
navigate
lose your marbles
go insane; go crazy