Highlights of the holidays

[cjsmith]

* Getting partially undressed at San Jose International (I am always the "randomly" searched person) and getting to explain why the wand beeped over my right breast (yes, getting that piercing did hurt, what do you THINK?)

* Meeting crazyladynocats and Lisa in Indianapolis! That was GREAT!

* Eating at Waffle House every chance I got (Kentucky has these, unlike California and Massachusetts). Waffle House is yummy, albeit very unhealthy. Waffle on one, hash browns scattered well, three eggs scrambled with cheese...

* Fleeing one Waffle House because a smoker sat down upwind of me

* Touring Squire Boone Caverns for the first time

* Getting the contents of my carry-on luggage completely rearranged at Standiford Field (Louisville) while we waited for a luggage claim tag to arrive for Rob because our flights had also been completely rearranged

* Seeing my parents' house without either Pokey or Ginger :-(

* Meeting my sister's new kitty, Ripley 8-} 8-}

* Discovering immediately that Ripley's favorite string-chase toy has enough taper that it can be cracked like a whip

* Discussing the holiday madness with my folks and gaining agreement that yes, SOMEthing has to change

* Staying up until 2am talking first to my brother and then my sister

* Dancing C-3B at Lake Shore Farm in New Hampshire (wow!) and meeting lots of new people there

* Spending New Year's Eve with my folks and Rob and Debbie Ceder (square dance friend)

* Taking off my shoes in Logan International (Boston), having my purse searched, and getting lots of things swabbed for explosives

* Waiting in the longest security line I have ever seen in LAX

* Coming home to a wonderful pair of very very affectionate kitties :-) but no third kitty and no housemate :-(

It was good to see everybody, but it was long, and I'm very glad to be home!

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Her theory is that they're showing that they're not profiling a particular ethnicity so they pick the complete antithesis...

Works for the last few months. Me, I've been the randomly searched person since I started flying commercially, many years ago. :-( It was funny for a while, but now I simply hate it.

Last time she was home, they confiscated her crochet hook. :(

I won't get started on the topic of false security. I won't, I won't, I won't.

Welcome back!

Thanks! It's good to be back! :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, false security is important. Think of it as a gigantic subsidy plan for the airlines; if people are too frightened to fly, then United and American might go bankrupt, and that would be a bad thing. :-/

And since in the public mind, inconvenience == security, as an aviation industry support program, it probably works pretty well....

-Ted

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! That's a point I think I've even made somewhere on LJ. My big issues with false security are

1) it's a big fat lie. People mistake the illusion for reality and then feel betrayed when it doesn't measure up; people are paying a lot for this but don't know what they're really getting. The feeling of betrayal in particular has some pretty harmful effects down the road, IMO. (I just wish I knew what to REPLACE this program with.)

2) it's pretty expensive. For me personally, I'd rather not pay (in time or money or inconvenience) for a set of illusions that my idealistic mind says "shouldn't" be needed. I want to stamp my foot and pout until I get to play by more intelligent rules. :-)