equilibrium of energy

i am not a scientist, nor was i a good science student in school,
but i seem to recall a law or theory about the constance of energy in the world.
i remember learning that though things shift and change form, energy is neither created nor destroyed.
i like this idea - beyond its deductive truth, i find it to be sort of beautiful.

i was reminded of this scientific nugget while trying to catch a plane a couple of weeks ago to miami. erk and i were as late as we could have been without missing the plane. we arrived to the airport 30 minutes before takeoff. there was no line to print our tickets (luckily we had checked in online on our way to the airport), nor was there a line at security. we were very lucky.

but despite there not being anyone in the security line, the rope barriers were up to corral people if/when there was a line. because my ankle was hurt i opted to duck under the rope, while erk took the extra long walk around the rope and through the corral. we reached the first "security" person at about the same time (his fast walking and my slow ducking). before i was even standing all the way back upright i was being yelled at.

"what are you doing?! you can't do that! no you have to walk around, you can't just do that! why you think these ropes are up? you just ducking under, you can't do that!"

i handed the angry woman my id as i looked toward the unpopulated area she said i had to "walk around" trying to determine whether she was really going to make me walk the 20 meters back and forth around the empty corral. instead she handed back my id and ticket and kept mumbling angrily. i took that as a green light to walk down to the next check point; the one right before the x-ray machine.

instead of laughing off the absurdity of being scolded i allowed this individual's bad mood to rub off on me. i'm not sure what determines whether i face these moments with humor, or let them break me - maybe it's dependent on how well i ate or slept in the hours before (or what kind of stress i am under to not miss my friggin flight). one thing for sure was that i was suddenly in a shitty mood. so much so that when the next security official asked "how are you doing today?" i answered "well, not that great, i just got yelled at for ducking under the rope instead of going around"

"by her?" the guard indicated toward the woman sitting at the entrance of the security. "she yells at everyone. you got yelled at for going under the rope? look, i'll go under the rope" and with a devious smile the officer came out from behind his security podium and made his way toward the nearest rope. my mood dramatically shifted. i laughed as i warned, "don't do it! you're going to get in trouble!"

the first guard never even looked back to see the other mocking her, but it didn't matter - his positive energy trumped her negative one and i couldn't help but smile as he returned, handed me back my ticket and boarding pass and told me to have a nice flight. "thanks" i said.

i was amazed at how quickly my energy could sour, and then how much more quickly it could sweeten back up again, simply by the influence of someone else's. it made me think about the incredible power we all have to influence the energy around us. do we want it to be positive or negative? - because what we put out will end up coming back around.