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Airport Security?
Banning curbside service is as much of a joke as some of the airport personnel.

As we get back to normalcy in our lives, or at least we try to, I was bamboozled by what my eyes were seeing. I had to travel from Orlando to Boston for personal reasons this week. The trip was schedule prior to the events of September Eleven.

There was no question about it; I was nervous on taking a plane ride. I did feel a sense of patriotism in partaking with my scheduled voyage though. Just like president Bush had said just a day after the terrorist attack, America must get back to normal. So I did.

Getting to the airport two hours before my flight was not really a big deal. I knew that there were going to be many security issues that were perhaps not cemented as of yet. Interestingly enough, and really, just my nature, I began to ask a lot of questions. I was feeling a bit leery. The "doing things because I said so", does not particularly work well with me.

The cancellation of curbside service was somewhat of a drag, but like with most Americans, I decided to just deal with it. I took my bags all the way to the counter and got in line. The wait was not really that long, so I got in and out within 20 minutes or so. I still had one hour and forty minutes to kill. What to do, what to do?

I could not help it, so I began to wander a bit and carry on with my own personal inquisition. I asked an employee about where did the curbside bags go when the service was operational. Surprisingly enough and to my own amazement, the entire curbside luggage ends up in the same conveyor belt my bags were going to. Upon asking another employee about the same subject, he coincided with his counterpart. At Boston's Logan Airport, I asked yet another employee and it was the same answer once again.

This really began to bug me because, like many times before, the Federal Aviation Administration, which I feel deserves a lot of the blame for the terrorist's free ride, was trying to divert this as a security issue. Is this a joke? If x-ray machines and FAA officials underneath the terminal examine all bags: what difference does it make whether the bags are taken into the counter or at the curb?

I was glad to see a lot more visible security in our airports. The sight of uniformed personnel with live ammo and dogs of war made me feel a bit uneasy, and yet secure. Go figure! The checkpoints seemed to serve more of a purpose, if the employees were not all chitchatting among themselves about more than the weather.

Another thing to consider is the actual airport security employee. To my visual count, a good number of them were people that probably had McDonalds as a previous employer in their resume. Oh yeah, the security guard reading the Orlando Sentinel did not help the cause either.

It is very sad that an event like this has to serve as the igniter for necessary change. A change for the better I hope. The fact is, what happen last Tuesday is not the norm, but an anomaly. The lesson here is a costly one, yet something needs to be done. Airport security reform should be at the highest priority for not only the FAA, but Congress and the airlines as well. Passengers and bitchin' chicks like me deserve it!

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