Airport security

I was on a redeye Wednesday night, which means that yesterday’s threat change by the TSA happened while I was in the air. The last time our nation’s air travel was so significantly affected was 9/11/01, when I was also in the air. It’s enough to make you a bit edgy.

Like my experience on 9/11, no announcements were made on the plane during the flight; even after landing everything was “normal”. It was only when I was in a cab on the way to my house to shower before heading into work that I heard the news… and it took a while to fully grasp the significance of what had apparently happened.

I’m on my way to DC today to reunite with my family — Robin and the kids have been at her parents in DC while I’ve been running around the country — so I was a bit concerned about the potential for a wasted day at the airport getting through security. I clocked it: from the time I got out of the cab, walked in the terminal, got my boarding pass, got in line at the security gate, went through security and then reassembled my belt, laptop, cell phone and shoes, it was a total of six minutes. Now, granted — I have status with United, so i got to go through the priority check-in line. But the ordinary line was only about 30 people long, and their wait looked to be about 10-15 minutes.

Yesterday, of course, was a mess — mostly, I’m guessing, because nobody had a chance to understand what the changes meant… remarkable that one day later, after a huge change in security procedures, that there’s no discernible impact. I’m not complaining, mind you — instead of shuffling through a line for 2 hours, I’m sitting at my gate, getting work done — but it’s still remarkable.