Since few of us our traveling by air these days, here's a little piece from the archives about clearing airport security.
I'm sitting at the gate, fully clothed and in my right mind, earlier than my normal wake up time. I've been up since I woke on my own at 4:40 am. While clearing the security screening, I was invited to choose full body scan or a pat down from a jovial salt-and-pepper haired woman about my age.
Psychologists say we need seven significant touches daily to stay mentally healthy so I picked the pat down. When I bumped into her later at the Tim Horton's coffee lineup, we chatted like old friends. Told her if the security thing didn't work out she could always consider massage therapy.
My bags were thoroughly hand-searched. The "one bag" restriction is in addition to a purse, a laptop, a camera and other personal items. I didn't bring the camera.
You can recognize the frequent flyers. One tidy roll-aboard. The resigned expression at security. The detachment from other passengers. The realization they have exchanged personal privacy for a tenuous level of pseudo security. High price to pay, IMO.
Next time I think I'll take a road trip. Wanna come?
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