Window Dressing

I've been all quiet on the eastern front because we were out of town for Spring Break. Was an interesting one because we actually relaxed and didn't make it a frenzy of activity. The girls were sick with the "fever bug" for the first half of it so that didn't help, but at least we all got to sleep in.

But, that's not what the blog is really about today. I'm talking about airport security again. Or lack there of. Or further, the fact that they put us through all these hoops to get through security and yet, it's all just window dressing. Case in point . . .

We had already picked-up our bags from baggage claim. DH was on his way to the garage to get the car (which BTW had a completely dead battery when he got there, welcome home!) when I noticed an unattended backpack. Completely unattended. Because I had the kids and the luggage with me, I couldn't seek out the police or TSA or whomever, so I alerted the nearest Southwest employee. Who didn't really care. And, did everything in her power to try to foist the bag off on anyone standing within 50 feet of it. Eventually, what I think was a security guard came over and tried to relay info on his walkie talkie.

This was a comedy of errors. His walkie apparently was working as well as those in the Twin Towers because finally he gave up and used his cell phone to call the person he was reporting the info to. At this point, I think the bag has been unattended for about 20 minutes.

A few minutes later the state police officer shows up and just begins rifling through the bag looking for identification. Since I am no longer physically at the airport, I can use the word I longed to in that moment. What if there had been a BOMB inside of it? That's what the government would have us believe is that people are at every turn trying to sabotage us. So, explain it to me Lucy, what the hell are we doing just rifling through an unattended bag that could have had anything in it?

I know this sounds paranoid, but I'm sitting there with my two children and I'm thinking, if anything happens to us over what seems like stupidity, I'm going to be really bs. We take off our shoes, we put miniscule amounts of liquid in clear plastic bags (because it makes it easier for the x-ray machine to scan?), and we walk through sniffing machines, but an unattended bag on the outside of security, that we can just rifle through and hope for the best.

Don't believe them when they say we are safer, they are only fooling themselves.