Something in the air

I almost gave up on traveling in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. It wasn’t due to fears. It was due to having to jump through so many hoops to get on a plane. Living on the islands isn’t conducive to avoiding airplanes, however, so I just got over myself and went through the routine. Our security procedures have morphed several times since inception, with the latest version being the new Travel Security Agency.
Sometimes I am required to remove my shoes. Sometimes it’s okay for my laptop to go through the screening. Sometimes I’m instructed to keep my shoes on and to hand my laptop to someone personally. I’m fond of the game Simon Says, so I play along. They’ve gotten me a few times, though. One time Simon didn’t say for me to take off my shoes. I hope that randomizing procedure keeps the bad guys guessing.
I keep wanting to tuck into my suitcase a pair of handcuffs and a whip. But I always talk myself out of it by realizing that I’m too busy getting my body on the plane to be able to know when to watch while a TSA agent maintains composure over my suitcase contents. Besides, I’m not going to waste either my money or prime suitcase real estate.
If you type “Airport Security Hoopla” into your internet search engine, you’ll get some interesting perspectives on what we do to keep planes safe. I learned about the TSA there. I’m hoping that all the folks who were doing the screenings before the agency was formed are now working for the agency. I hate to think of anyone losing their job over all this. That would just be another way the terrorists win.
Speaking of jobs, I try really hard not to harass the screeners (schemes of making them blush excluded.) That would be like killing the messenger for giving me a message I didn’t like. And they’re pretty good about not harassing me back. Any sort of policing job has got to be a publicly-challenging position.
Where this will end is anyone’s guess. They have eased up considerably now, even letting passengers touch the airplane. The next attacks, if there be any, will likely come in such an unexpected form that it’s hard to say that the screenings are worthwhile. But I’ll abide by the rules all the same. It’s just that I can imagine the destructive side of human ingenuity developing weapons made of other materials than metal and in sizes too small or flat to be detected. Ah well, that’s just a product of too many movies, I suppose. But then I remember the communicators on the original Star Trek series being way out there as an idea when I was a kid. Now the airlines have to beg passengers to shut off their communicators during take off and landing.
The greatest screening tool at our disposal is human intuition. In his insightful book, The Gift of Fear, Gavin de Becker spells out how folks know beforehand that something bad is going to happen. Usually, the reports are from victims after the event, telling of the slight of hand, the look, or the feeling that something was wrong. There are multiple telltale signs that, if we are willing to trust ourselves, are detectable by our highly accurate insight. Fear is not the enemy. Terrorism, by its name, seeks to debilitate by creating fear. That’s a problem for the bad guys because fear is smart, when used as an intelligent gift.
I was surprised when my crochet hook was allowed through this last airport screening. I knew that knitting needles were likely out of the question. But, how secure are we really? Didn’t they realize that I might intend to crochet an Afghan?