esrosedotblog

FLY OVER

It is interesting to read the news from the front of the airplane security wars.

Flying With Scissors and Other Airport Updates

This guy is like me. He is not encouraged by the additional security. In plain words, it is pure and simple dry humping.

Nothing comes of it. It does not work.

Oh, sure. I know that there could have been thousands of terrorists thwarted by these procedures and the administration would say so in defense.

But, in this article, there are several references to frequent fliers' ability to game the system and avoid inspection. I would be one of those. I have always been able to 'get over'. But it takes a lot of work and is at a spiritual cost that I am not willing to spend.

Personally, I think that it is all hogwash; a cosmetic set of maneuvers to build the bureaucracy and to give some more (un-needed) spin to the pols who run on the basis of the war on terror. Keepin' us scared.

One sure sign of this is that, to this day, the freight and a lot of the luggage in the hold of the planes are totally unexamined. Talk about a swiss cheese defense.

I am interested to see, in the last para, that 'many' people have solved the problem of lines, annoying harrassment, dealing with security goons and Don Knotts rent-a-cop types. They simply do not fly anymore. They drive or they don't go.

That is me.

I remember my turning point. We went to pick up someone at the airport and had to wade through the snakey line of potential flyers waiting for checkin. The line wound from the counter, out by the stores and snack bar, past the auto rental booths and down to the luggage pickup area.

That did it for me. Did I mention that I do not do lines? You can't game a line.

And I do not suffer fools gladly. They are ubiquitous in the airport security game. Can't game a gomer either.

And so on.

I know. A lot of people do not have the option. I am sorry about that. But as long as they sheepishly put up with the security charade they will get what they get.

Sure, if the payoff was there for me I would fly again. There is always the exception. But it has not happened yet.