02 Dec 02
Airport security: Frustrating; mostly worthless; hypocritical;
passengers are presumed-guilty until proper subservience is shown at which
time they are allowed to be guilty of less serious offenses, no one is truly
innocent.I was standing in the airport security line at the Madison
airport while waiting to board a flight out of town for Thanksgiving.
The gentleman in front of me was removing his jacket, shoes, and belt so
that he could walk through the metal detector. He took the change out
of his pocket. He took the keys out of his pocket. He took his
wallet out of his pocket. A little girl, probably four or five years
old, has to take off her jacket and shoes before she is allowed to go
through security. While walking through O’Hare in Chicago, I saw a
woman (well past middle age) get wanded to check for metal embedded in her
rapidly thinning hair. Does anyone feel safer because five year-old
girls are taking their shoes off before boarding the plane? Were
little old ladies really keeping pistols in their hair styles before 11 Sep
01? Are overweight men wearing black loafers and belts a real threat
to national security? And then people wonder why I question the
motives behind, and the efficacy of, more draconian security policies?
You know that TV has taken over your life when a jacuzzi with a built-in television doesn’t sound over
the top.