Imagine this: You board a plane, pop a xanax or three to help calm the nerves that flood though you right after the flight attendant reminds you that your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device, and right before you close your eyes, you see it.
You glance over at your seat mate’s phone because you’re naturally nosy and/or because you can never be too careful, and he’s sending a message to a Whatsapp group titled ‘ISI Men.’ The contents of the message: ‘Prayer.’
What’s your move?
A British man named Laolu Opebiyi, 40, from London, was due to fly to Amsterdam last Thursday on an EasyJet plane when a passenger sitting next to him underwent the exact same scenario I outlined above (minus the xanax part, probably).
According to the Guardian, the passenger leaned over to the Nigerian-born Christian and said, “What do you mean by prayer?” Initially taken back by the breach of privacy, Opebiyi responded that he was arranging a prayer with friends.
The man then walked up to the front of the plane and reported the passenger to the crew, who required him to hand over his phone and provide his password to prove his innocence.
Opebiyi was then questioned by a detective, who asked him the meaning of the ‘ISI men’ group text name, to which he said was an acronym for “iron sharpens iron,” from the Bible quote “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
He was then cleared by the detective, but the pilot would not let him back on the flight. An officer then accompanied Opebiyi to the EasyJet booking desk with seven other passengers who got off the plane still fearing for their safety.
He was finally able to catch a flight three hours later.
After the entire debacle, Opebiyi told the Guardian:
‘That guy doesn’t know me and within two minutes he’s judging me. Even if I was a Muslim, it was pretty unfair the way I was treated.
‘I don’t think anyone, irrespective of their religion should be treated in such a way.’
This is one giant clusterfuck and sadly I can see both sides. But I would likely come to the conclusion that no professional terrorist would be stupid enough to label a group text ‘ISI,’ and then I’d submit to the powers of the xanax.
[h/t The Guardian]