'Tis the Season to Travel

It’s been several months since we’ve traveled on an airplane. But we plan to again join the throng at the airport in a few days to go to Indiana for Thanksgiving. As you probably know, the travel-world has changed dramatically since 9-11. I hate the fact that loved ones can’t be there to greet you at your gate. I hate that you have to meet them in the hectic baggage claim area. Maybe it’s just that I’ve always fantasized about having a lover to meet me at my gate. Then, as soon as I did, he couldn’t be there. (So, I’m just an embittered, slighted female.) Another thing I think is just plain STUPID is the random baggage searches just prior to boarding the plane - AFTER you’ve already gone through numerous metal detectors. Do they actually uncover any contraband by subjecting old women and children to this treatment? It always amuses me that we can justify pulling out little grandmas, dressed in cute flowery pink dresses with matching shoes and a handbag, from the line to frisk them for weapons. We do this because we have to be "tolerant" and politically correct, you know. I once witnessed security personnel pass by two men who looked like they’d come straight from the Taliban and remove a small, elderly, innocent-looking Japanese woman who couldn’t speak any English. She was very bewildered and had no clue as to why she was being taken out of line. Talk about emotional distress. As if SHE would have the strength and ambition to knife down a flight attendant to take over the plane. The notion is ludicrous. I think a lot of the hype is simply to hallucinate the masses into believing they are safe and secure.