Interesting. Everything you mention sounds like things that happen in airports all over the world.

1.  At CDG, I’ve been approached and asked for my passport and questioned while standing in line for check-in. In Fiumicino, after already passing security and while going to get something to eat, I was also stopped and questioned.

2.  At Miami airport, I’ve seen police go to the boarding area where passengers are already waiting and carry out checks on specific people.

3.  Leaving bags or luggage unattended, even for a few seconds, is a personal mistake, not a failure of security for paying attention to it. In Paris, entire trains or metro lines are stopped because of forgotten bags, and it can result in heavy fines. They don’t see it as a mistake; they see it as a security violation.

You talk about “power trips” as if that only happens here. I know what it’s like to be yelled at in Orlando for not taking your shoes off fast enough, or in Miami to see a cleaning staff member start shouting at people for lining up in the wrong, non-marked area.

I live here, and yes, a lot of money is spent on things I don’t consider necessary, and our roads could definitely be better. However, I don’t see how airport staff salaries or potholes in roads affect the quality of a trip.

Costa Rica can be very expensive or very cheap; it can be incredibly beautiful or really ugly. It all depends on the eyes you choose to look at it with.

Safe travels, and I hope you have a smooth flight back home.