You didn't play on computer games, you played outside. Now I think most kids are just into X Factor and "let's be famous", but I've had a wee touch of what it's like to be famous, and it's not particularly great. At school, Smeaton was good at history and modern studies, but he was a dreamer and failed to apply himself. He says that if he was able to, he'd go back now and hit himself, so full was his head of Star Wars. He left school at 16, and saw things changing around him: the Royal Ordnance factory closed, Compaq came in.
He left at 19 with a belief that he was being exploited, and applied for a job at the airport. In a nervous act that may now be seen as apposite, he crashed his car near the entrance. The role of baggage handler didn't require an arduous interview - 'Do you have a criminal record, do you live near, can you drive?
In some of the holds you can't stand fully, and I'm 5ft 10in, and you have to watch it because you'll always be hitting your back or head. When the dessert menu arrives, Smeaton is faced with a tough call.
Before it arrives, there is a rant against budget airlines. Your bag gets treated like absolute crap. The way people's bags are handled, it's not right. It's not like you've got an hour, you've got 20 minutes. We don't treat It really annoys me when people fly so cheaply, but you get what you pay for. Smeaton is now a supervisor, working four days on and two off, two of his shifts lasting until 11pm or later if planes are delayed. He will go back in the hold if one of his charges calls in sick.
I've seen people take lengths of wood with them. And don't even get me started about golfers - I'm sure they're very nice guys, but do you really think I'm going to lift your golfclubs? I really hate it. Skis are a lot easier - you can manipulate them and pivot them. But golf clubs - there are 40 or 50 sets to deal with on some flights.
And the hold of the aircraft isn't big enough to take them, and you're thinking, "Right, whose clubs are going to miss [the flight]? I'm sorry, but someone's going to get over to Malaga without their clubs. I ask him about missing bags. There's probably someone who's going, "Oh, they're around the corner from me, they're away on holiday, well, I might have a wee chat with I said, "Rab, you hear that, a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.
When things like that happen, you have to work harder. People are having to work hour shifts, and they don't get any thanks for it. Was he nervous about handling people's bags after the attack? It never entered my wildest dreams that anyone would want to attack Glasgow airport.
It was the other side of the world - it would never happen here. The following morning I visit Smeaton at his house he used to live with a girlfriend, but the relationship broke up a few weeks before he became famous. We are going to the airport together, but he isn't going to work. Instead, he is travelling to the Pride of Britain Awards in London with his fellow heroes. He greets me in good spirits, but as he drinks tea on the sofa his mood changes, and he puts his head in his hands.
I've run about the last six or seven weeks and I'm exhausted - you know, give me back my quiet, mundane, ordinary life. Now it's "go here, do this". I have said no to a lot of things. All I really want to do is sleep in my own bed. I'd be paying people to lift my bags for me. His parents, who are retired his mother works occasionally as a locum express pride in their son, but they can see he is feeling the strain.
His father drives us to the airport, and on the way Smeaton talks about past trips to London and beyond, necessitated by his new fame. Before July he had only visited London once. In the past few weeks he has travelled down for interviews with Richard and Judy and Lorraine Kelly, and to meet Gordon Brown.
Come with me. Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your access to the most informative and considered journalism in the UK. Accessibility Links Skip to content. Menu Close. Log in Subscribe. Mark Macaskill.
Sunday April 06 , 1. His Chewin' The Fat-style patter struck a chord with millions of viewers and hundreds of newspaper column inches have been devoted to the hero across the globe.
At the age 31, John shot to fame after becoming involved in thwarting the Glasgow International Airport Attack. Smeato was on a fly fag break when Indian-born engineering student Ahmed and Scots-based Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah targeted the airport on June 30, Evil Ahmed then turned himself into a human fireball at the scene, dying of his injuries almost a month later.
He later recalled his first thoughts on being confronted by the two desperate suspects who drove a burning jeep filled with explosives into the airport entrance. He heard three explosions during his break: "What's the score?
I've got to get this sorted. He added "I thought, 'That's no right, ' and ran over to assist. All that was going through my mind was I've got to help the policeman, I'm not letting these guys get away with this.
During the incident Smeaton also helped drag Michael Kerr to safety after Kerr, another person to intervene in the event, had been left lying with a broken leg beside the burning jeep after kicking Mr Ahmed himself.
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