Airport security, just in time for Thanksgiving

I have no problem with profiling. We're talking about the safety of the people in this country and I would feel a lot better if the people in charge of security for the airlines weren't a bunch of lazy union workers who switch off between sleepwalking through their jobs and the other half confiscating my toothpaste.

I want people to be safe. Being politically correct isn't my concern.

 

I know someone who bought one for that exact reason and they still make him take it out every time.

 

Some of what they're doing is so ridiculous. I do think we learned a lot from 9-11, mostly just make sure no one has access to the cockpit. If it weren't for that, it's just a handful of guys with box cutters vs. dozens of passengers. Plus, if you can't seize control of the plane, what's the point in hijacking it? Instead, the airlines are just feeling people up and confiscating toothpaste.

 

There's a lot to be said for that.

I've never understood why shoes have to be removed. If there's something in then wouldn't they set off the metal detector? When I was in London a few years ago, nobody had to take off their shoes. I don't think I had to take my laptop out either. It was much more efficient than it is in most airports here.

 

Chemicals probably wouldn't.

 

Well no, they don't have metal in them.

 

Did they stop swabbing shoes since I left? I was always under the impression that was the reason for taking off the shoes -- to check for chemicals and/or explosive substances -- rather than anything metal.

 

It's all reactive. One idiot tries to blow up his shoes, fails, and now we all have to take off our shoes. One idiot tries to blow up his underwear, burns his junk off, and now we all have to stand electronically naked for TSA. It is a zillion-taxpayer dollar exercise in locking a series of barn doors after the horses gallop away.
As a flyer, I am all for security, just like I never bitch about checking mechanical problems while I sit on the ground. Go ahead, gang, take all the time you need to fix this puppy. But so much of the security is so obviously wasted motion. Our primary line of defense seems to be that it is getting harder to find good suicide bombers these days.

 

I have never, ever needed more than one bin.

My laptop goes in it, as well as the spare change in my pocket and a jacket if I'm headed to a winter climate. That's all.

The case I use to carry my laptop goes on the belt by itself, right after the bin. Shoes go on the belt by themselves, too. Perhaps once I have been asked to take off my belt and put it through the machine by itself.

I really don't care if the interstate or the supermarket has an express lane, but I hate needing to stand around for 10 minutes for something that should take 45 seconds.

 

It depends on the airport you're traveling through or the whims of the TSA people that day. I've had them say that my laptop needs to be in its own bin - or not, that my shoes need to be in a bin or that just on the belt is OK. I've had them say my jacket needs to be in its own bin, because you can't have items layered in the bins. I've had them say my baggie of liquids needs to come out of my bag - or that it can stay in. I've had them make me take my watch off, but I've also been told it can stay on. Same with my belt.

 

Whether you're standing around in security or standing around at the gate, the plane's gonna leave at its scheduled departure time regardless.

Much ado about nothing.