The Terrorists Have Won

I took my son to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. this past weekend to catch a flight home. Because it's Spring Break in a lot of places, my options were pretty limited and I ended up having to book him on a flight that left at 6:35 on a Saturday morning.

We entered the parking lot at 5:07 a.m. - a full 90 minutes early. The airport terminal was packed! Our carrier's line had about 60 people waiting to check in. All of three agents were working, and quite honestly they were doing their best to keep things moving. Finally we got his bag checked, received his boarding pass and my security pass so I could accompany him to the gate. It was now a few minutes before 6:00, and the fun was only starting!

The security line was easily 250-people long, split into three rows. After 20 minutes we had hardly moved and all I could think is how the terrorists who attacked our country almost six years ago have won. We're terrified! We have given up so many of our freedoms and put up with this ridiculous process at our airports because we are so scared they will do it again. This is the exact definition of terror.

I wanted to step out of line, turn to the crowd and ask, "Is anyone here a terrorist? Does anyone here have a bomb? Are any of you planning on crashing an airplane today?" Looking at all the families, elderly couples, college students and business people it was obvious to me what the answer would be. But no one was complaining. We're too terrified to complain.

So we accept the TSA carefully scrutinizing everyone's shoes and shampoo to make sure we are "safe." I supposed one of the reasons we don't complain is our fear they will pull you aside and subject you to "extra scrutiny" just to make sure you're not harboring some evil intention that involves spending time with a whole bunch of virgins in the afterlife.

It's absurd.

We got to the gate about two minutes before the scheduled departure. Our security line was held up because of a woman who had more than the allowed three ounces of toothpaste in her clear plastic bag, and it took three TSA officials to sort it all out and explain why she couldn't take that much Crest with her. Of course the line came to a complete stop while all of this was going on. Everyone's terror started to shift to "What am I going to do if I miss my flight?"

At the gate one of the last passengers to arrive was a nicely dressed, middle-aged woman who was carrying her shoes in her hands. She looked very flustered and frustrated. She approached the gate attendant with her boarding pass and said, "This is ridiculous. I shouldn't have to run through the airport with my shoes in my hands just to catch a flight. I arrived in plenty of time this morning, and here I am running barefoot!" She's absolutely right.

My son's flight took off about three minutes late. I exited the parking lot at 7:02 - just shy of two hours after our arrival. We had stood in lines for close to 75 minutes just to check his bag and pass through security. Time that I had hoped we could have had a nice discussion and said an extended goodbye. Instead I rushed him onto the airplane and said a hasty, "Be good. I'll miss you." and off he went.

This system sucks. The terrorists have won.