Terminal Experience

It was possibly the longest layover ever. And all Kenyan Sanjai Shah wanted to do was become a British citizen. Last year, Mr. Shah bought a one-way ticket to the United Kingdom using his British Overseas Citizen passport, since he was born in Kenya during Great Britain's colonial rule. But once Mr. Shah, 43, arrived in England, UK officials banished him back to Kenya for having insufficient funds and no return ticket. Of course Mr. Shah had bigger problems. When he left Kenya, the man renounced his Kenyan citizenship because of laws prohibiting dual citizenship. That left Mr. Shah a man without a country since May 2004-time he spent living in terminal at Nairobi's international airport awaiting the time when British officials would grant him full citizenship. That time came July 12, when Mr. Shah was scheduled for a citizenship ceremony after more than a year of sleeping on airport benches, eating airport food, and bathing in terminal restrooms.

Now that is a terrible airport experience. Don't you think?