So there we were at a fairly small airport in Long Island, our preferred means of departing the area by air as opposed to the more busier, more hectic JKF or LaGuardia, as casa David prepared for our annual pilgrimage to Florida (followed by my continuation to the San Diego con.)
We encounter a huge line waiting for curbside check-in, but the line inside seems no shorter, so we wait. And wait. We inch forward. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, some guy steps in back of us. Apparently he doesn’t realize that he’s cutting in line, because there’s ten people behind us. It’s just that the woman behind us hadn’t yet moved forward because she had several suitcases to maneuver. Kathleen points out to him that he’s cutting in line and indicates where the actual end is. His response? He starts cursing at her, telling her to go f*** herself.
I immediately round on him and tell him to back the hëll off. He tells me I should mind my own business. I tell him if he starts cursing out my wife, he’s made it my business. Our faces are literally inches apart as, out loud, I’m hurling profanities at him as fast as he’s tossing them at me, and I’m thinking My God, where the hëll are all the cops you always see patrolling the place? Reading the new Harry Potter book? He informs me I have no idea who I’m f***ing with, and then heads to the back of the line. People are looking at me and, looking for a reality check, I say, “Was it me?” And they smile and shake their heads and say, “Noooo…it wasn’t you.”
I’m thinking, “How could this day get off to any worse of a start?”
We finally get to the front of the line and they won’t check in Kathleen. Caroline and I are free to go, but they insist that Kath has to go stand on the line INSIDE the airport and present further ID. I say, “We already waited once; it’s insane that we’d have to wait on ANOTHER line.” They just stare icily at Kath and say they can’t do a thing.
And I’m thinking, It can’t be what I think it is.
After losing another twenty minutes of time, and with our flight set to depart in twenty minutes, we finally learn that it’s exactly what I’d worried it was:
“Kathleen David” is apparently a similar name (not even the same: Similar) to someone who is a suspected terrorist. As a result, Kathleen is on a No-Fly list. A woman who doesn’t have so much as a parking ticket in her history is now being told she has to allow another HOUR of time at airport check ins so that she can stand on long lines and present additional identification to prove she’s not someone else with a similar name who might or might not have done something. The ONLY reason we managed to make our flight was because Caroline was in a stroller and they had a separate, and much shorter, line through security for people with wheelchairs or strollers.
They gave her a piece of paper with a number to call to have herself removed from this list. I am, frankly, less than hopeful that this will be resolved quickly and efficiently. Has anyone else been in this situation? How did it turn out?
PAD
• 
Peter, I hate to be a downer, but I share your pessimism, as Homeland Security has promised to try and get rid of the names that obviously don’t belong on that list, but since they don’t seem to have any great accountability to do so, I really don’t see it happening any time soon.
Ironically, I just saw a story on CNN I think, about a very young boy who had trouble recently because it turned out that his name was on the Watch List. Of course Homeland Security pooh-poohed the problem by saying there are no kids on the list, but I remember thinking, yeah, but what happens in ten years when he’s older and then for the rest of his life?
I sympathize with your difficulties. I am not sure if you know this but even Sen. Ted Kennedy was on the list at one point in time as ludicrous as that may sound. In short I am sorry that your wife has been put on this list while there are so many other things which funds should be directed to. Your inconvienence, unfortunately is shared by many with a questionable feeling of saftey attached to it.
Maybe they thought Kennedy would be piloting the plane.
Peter, the entire mess you just described was on Boston Legal last year. Megapatriot Denny Crane had the same name as a suspected terrorist and took Alan into court to fight it. At one point, the TSA rep asks whilst on the stand how many Denny Cranes could possibly be affected. Alan agrees and asks anyone who’s an inconvenienced Denny Crane to stand up. As the entire court audience stands, Alan observes that these are merely the Denny Cranes within driving distance of the Boston court….since none of them can fly.
Blackadder: You have no idea what irony is, do you Baldrick?
Baldrick: Sure I do. It’s like bronze-y or gold-y, except it’s made of iron.
Well, Baldrick apparently understands it better than Alanis.
So when did this start? You guys have been flying to conventions for some time – I take it there’s been no other incidents in the past?
Maybe it’s time for her to start booking her flights under her maiden name…. 🙂
I read something recently that said that like less than one percent of cases Homeland Security brings to court (or whatever)actually involve terror suspects. The rest are illegal aliens.
Your encounter with the jerk reminds me of an expeience i and first wife Susan had returning from visiting her family in Louisville. At that time, Eastern had three gates at Hartsfield here in Atlanta that involved a “mobile gate” – a bus with an elevating mechanism – to get from the concourse to the plane out on the field somewhere.
Susan was a bit queasy after the flight, and the mobile gate was clearly marked no smoking. So a jerk sits down across from us (it had seats along both sides facing the center and two rows along the middle facing outward on each side) and lights up.
I ask him to put it out. He says no. I point out that it’s making my wife sick. His reaction is “then move”. I point out the “No Smoking” sign. He says “So what?”
I go complain to the driver. He says “We’ll be in the terminal in a few minutes. Why not just move.”
I go back. The guy smirks, blows some smoke my way. I swing my paperback book and, just missing his nose, knock the cigarette out of his mouth.
He starts to get threatening, and then apparently takes in just how big i was. (Kathleen will probably remember me in thoise days – six feet, onl slightly overweight in the low-to-mid 200’s, shoulder length hair, bushy beard, jeans and t-shirt with someting smart-ášš on it.) He gets up, walks around the end of the center rws, sits down on the outer row facing us across the bus.
He starts to light another, loudly announcing, as if i had readon to be afraid of him in his suit and tie and short hair, “You better not come over here.”
Before he finished the sentence, i was out of my seat and had bounded *over* the middle rows, and was nose-to-nose with him as i plucked the unlighted cigarette from his mouth, crushed it in my fist, and let the remains trickle down into his lap.
“Or what?” i asked. As Roger Hall says about a different situation, even though my face was very close to his, i probably gave the impression of speaking from a great distance.
He subsided in his seat, muttering about “Ðámņ hippie motherf**ker…”
I went back to my seat, not quite bowing to the people who were not quite applauding.
(Of course, i was dámņëd lucky that he didn’t let his anger overpower his good sense and shop me for assault, which, if any of the witnesses had been found and testified, would have been a pretty easy conviction…)
I always wonder, if they’ve got these lists of terrorists, Why the hëll don’t they arrest them!? It was the same question when they told us they would only tap the phones of people talking to terrorists; if they know who these people are, if they’re terrorists, why don’t we go and get them??!??
Back in ’94 I was heading to Japan from Montreal through O’Hëll, er, O’Hare but American Immigration in Montreal held me up for interrogation (remember this was years before the ’01 thing) though they never said why. Eventually there came a final boarding call and then a P.A. call wondering where I was since I hadn’t shown up at the gate. The officious jerks at immigration ignored it telling me they’d come get me if it was really urgent.
They eventually let me go, with no apologies or explanations and I dashed to the gate, arriving just in time to see the plane head off.
I was NOT amused.
Fortunately the airline managed to make alternate, last-minute arrangements which allowed me to make my connecting flight after all, albeit with only minutes to spare.
The only thing I don’t understand is how it is some friends/acquaintances in the U.S. still don’t get why the farther I stay from the U.S. border, tha happier I am.
P.S. – About that no-fly list – a news item about a similar one in Canada had someone going on about how it’ll never work because terrorists don’t use their real names. Uh, it won’t work precisely because they DID use their real names, but they weren’t wanted for anything so it wouldn’t have helped anyway.
“They gave her a piece of paper with a number to call to have herself removed from this list.”
But… but… but… it wasn’t her name on the list. It was a name *similar* to hers. Won’t they just say that whether she’s a terrorist or not, the other person might be?
How different were the names? Are we talking a couple of letters or a pretty significant difference. If they’re checking similar names, that could potentially be *anyone*, depending on just how loosely they define “similar.”
I was once pulled over on my way home to Clearwater from Miami. After a few minutes of waiting, more and more cop cars appeared. After 20 minutes, in total, there were 10-12 police cars surrounding my vehicle.
The cop that stopped me had only asked for my driver’s license, not my registration or anything else when I was first stopped.
While few details were provided to me, I was eventually told that my name was tagged as a ‘hot file’ or something because there was a guy or ex-cop with my name running guns out of New York or something.
I was 21 years old at the time and scared witless. “Sir, I live at home with my parents. We’ve lived here for 12 years. I way 140 pounds and have seen a badge maybe 3 times in my life. I’ve worked in the same grocery store for 5 years.”
I hear one cop say to another “seemed a bit young to be a cop..”
I was let off with a light warning “you’re entering city limits so try to watch your speed” but I seriously started to wonder what kind of information a cop’s computer provides and how often these kinds of things occur.
I was out of the country during the September 11 attacks (Scotland, England, and Paris), and ever since then I get a lot of scrutiny whenever I fly or travel internationally. It probably doesn’t help that I worked in Hong Kong for a year and a half afterwords, and my passport has had pages added and is full of stamps. Despite having never been arrested, I almost always get bags searched and harassed by customs. I get questioned for travel that took place years ago.
When I moved back from Hong Kong in late 2003, I was taken aside by US Customs when I first landed in the states. I had legitimate items confiscated because customs agents tore through my stuff, and confiscated legitimate legal items that they didn’t know what to do with (such as legally purchased video cds that weren’t pirated, and movies on two discs, like Snatch.) After being held up for well over an hour, and badly needing to eat, pee, and make my connection home, they finally said I could leave once I signed an acknowledgement that they had taken some of my belongings. I wasn’t going to pick a fight then and there, so I signed the fine print paperwork, with the idea I’d dispute it when I was comfortably home. I did fight it, and was told that what I had signed was actually a waiver, and that I could not dispute what was taken. My congressman was powerless to do anything when I contacted him, and my appeal went nowhere.
US Customs is now run by the Department of Homeland Security, by the way. How their inappropriate confiscations did anything to make the country safer, I’ll never know.
The no-fly list affected a politician as I recall (Some one else might have the details) and he couldn’t get his name of the list easily, either.
But Peter, I’m just glad that the basic lesson “Bullies are cowards and should be stood up to” is something that you know and acted upon.
The world would be a better place if more people acted like you.
Some time on google, and I found that
The chairman of the House Transportation Committee Donald Young was surprised to find himself on the US no-fly list as he tried to board a flight from Alaska to Seattle.
Young is not the first prominent politician to find himself on the list – Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Democratic Rep. John Lewis have also been stopped from flying due to their names appearing on the list.
While flying to Disney a few years ago, blasted on Ativan in preparation for the flight (I don’t fly well) and with 3 kids in tow, I made the mistake of pointing out the one security line that didn’t seem to have many people in it, so we got in that one. This one, of course, turned out to be the special line for people needing their luggage and feet searched (even if you were wearing 99-cent rubber thongs.) Once you realize your mistake, you’re not allowed to back out.
Amazingly, we still got through faster than if we’d stayed in the other (I think they took pity on us). This was a warning, however, of things to come. When we arived in Orlando at 9 pm (I was starting to regain consciousness), we found out that although Disney had kept our princely deposit, they had cancelled all our reservations for no reason they could understand. Worse yet, they’d cancelled our car reservation – which they didn’t make, we did – and they had no vans left unless we wanted a 15-passenger, at $800 for the week.
Disney has a secret complaint number they do not give to the public; you have to know an insider or someone in their Frequent Guest club. Calling it, we not only got an apology, but more than half off our hotel stay (but still less than the dámņëd tickets). And we managed to get a giant Excursion instead of a van.
As far as security goes, most of it is a joke. Checking passengers means little when most luggage and cargo is not screened. We were able to walk into the Smithsonian with our pocket knives despite a check. NASA seems to have the tightest security I’ve seen. At Canaveral, they confiscated my little keychain calculator (with a see-through case) because the battery had died and I couldn’t prove it was a calculator. Nor was I allowed to take it back when I left.
I’m grateful I only fly every 5 years.
I worry about this type of thing happening to us every time we fly.
Good luck to the likely tens if not hundreds of Kathleen Davids out there and the bs from the government. Most likely you’re going to be stuck with this now for a long time.
In a similar vein, a few weeks ago, I was pulling into a shopping center parking space. These spaces were the diagonal type, and the strip between them is clearly marked “One Way”. So, I pull into the spot, noting in passing that a large-ish SUV is pulling into the top of the lane. So, I put my car in park, and stroll happily but quickly(as I had thirty minutes to get to work) and then I hear the yelling. “What, you didn’t see me there?” was one of the more repeatable things that this short stocky fellow says. followed by “Man, I’d kick your ášš if I wasn’t working.” So, I pointed to the store and asked if he worked there, a sharp retort on my tongue. “No, but I swear blankety blankety blank–” Now, this guy might’ve been 5’2″. I’m 6’3″. I had this insane image of that helmet pushing scene from Spaceballs. I could hear the guy complaining all through the store. Then they paged security. I was amused. I do have to say, though, it took a lot to stop myself from just hauling off and hitting the guy. My hands didn’t stop shaking for an hour after that, but I kept my temper. Kinda proud of that.
This fills me with loads of confidence for the next couple of Weeks … My wife and few friends (all fans – which of course means a bit odd and highly strung) are doing London – San D (comic con of course) San D – Vegas (Vow renewal at the ST experience – anyone wanna come ?) Vegas – Frisco then Frisco back to London all in 9 Days.
Now I’ve a part arabic name (from about 8 generations back) and my Wife is from the Punjab … I suspect we are gonna have real fun and games ..
Even if the guy was bee-essing you, maybe two incidents are related. Maybe the guy sent to the back of the line got a similar shakedown.
It isn’t like they don’t want to: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1211374,00.html
I can’t believe you are complaining! Do you want the terrorist to win? Because it certainly sounds like you want the terrorist to win. Whatever inconvenience we have, or ‘freedoms” that Great leader Bush asks us give up, are worth it to defeat the terrorist. If we do not submit to the security that Great Leader Bush has decided is necessary, then we will lose our freedoms to the terrorist.
So how about you just stand in line and have a nice cup of Shut the F**k Up!
God bless America and Great Leader Bush.
Would anybody care to lay odds that the guy that Peter “didn’t know who he was f***ing with,” had some sort of capacity to report Kathleen as a potential terrorist? I would expect that the story about “your name is similar to that of a terrorist” is probably a cover story for “just because,” that way, you can’t get your name removed, because you don’t know the name to tell them is a problem!
To me, this seems fairly obvious. The creation of TSA and DHS have taught me the inescapable truth about the inherently corrupting nature of power.
“I was let off with a light warning “you’re entering city limits so try to watch your speed” but I seriously started to wonder what kind of information a cop’s computer provides and how often these kinds of things occur.”
The information is actually rather hit or miss in its quality. Sometimes everything comes through 110% perfectly and other times it comes through telling us we have a wanted subject because NCIC decided to hit based only on the date of birth or a similar name. The dumbest one I ever saw was when one of the Richmond guys I backed up had a subject come back as wanted for murder. We had a scared spitless Asian kid (eighteen or nineteen, maybe five foot four and all of one hundred pounds soaking wet) and he’s getting cuffed and stuffed until conformation comes through. Dispatch gets the full suspect information and the wanted subject is described as something like six foot four, close to three hundred pounds, in his mid-thirties and black. The best we figured, the hit was based just on the the fact that the two of them had the same last names and the same day and month of birth. Yeah, that little bit can do it.
The airports can be just as dumb since they have to use the same basic information set up. That’s how you can get this stupidity…
http://www.kctv5.com/news/13714299/detail.html
… that’s then compounded by the airport workers being a) caught up by some regulations that they could be fired for disregarding no matter what common sense tells them and b) workers that don’t have that much common sense to begin with.
And people who know me can’t figure out why I’ll drive from Virginia to Florida with no stops if I’m pressed for time rather then do the trip in half the time by plane.
Heh. I’ve had problems flying ever since a series of unfortunate events left me having purchased a last minute ticket (Dad gave me his flight info, not mine, so I missed my plane and had to rebook at the counter), going thru last minute security (because of the last minute purchase), and having them open my bookbag to have a plethora of books on the origins of fundamentalism, terrorism, and Islam come flying out of my backpack.
..woops.
i flew from belfast to edinburgh last year around the time of the hightened security. i bought one of your star trek books (one of the worf adventures) to read on the flight and some sweets because i have problems with my ears. i was amazed that i was allowed neither on the flight. i made a comment about paper cuts and was removed from the que and informed that anymore comments like that and i would be removed from the flight. i asked if i could put the book in an envelope and post it home. the security guard took too much pleasure snatching the book from my hands and throwing it in a large bin. only the fact i’m a gentleman stopped me from being locked up. i still havent read the book or been able to find another copy. (it was the 2nd one hint, hint)
all the best
Bill
“Maybe they thought Kennedy would be piloting the plane.”
I understand this was an attempt at humor, but I knew John John before he died, and this is in no way funny. He was a dámņ good pilot and I still have dire misgivings about the “official” story of how that plane went down.
“Why don’t they arrest them?”
Because these lists are not just for people who they’re trying to arrest, but for people they don’t have any evidence on but think might be shaky. Maybe the “real” Kathleen David (or Davis, etc) is the sister of a guy who once got picked up while hanging out with some IRA guys, and so might have some sympathies to a mostly inactive terrorist organization. Hardly enough to make a case on. But who wants to be the one who let through an unlikely suspect who turned out to be an actual terrorist?
Remember, it’s not about keeping the public safe, it’s about keeping their phoney-baloney jobs safe. If we ever do have another terror attack in this country, everyone below a certain pay grade who might have potentially stopped it will probably get fired. And everyone above will probably get laterally transferred and quietly promoted later.
—Dave
I thought it was a Chappaquiddick reference since the Kennedy being mentioned was Ted, not John Jr.
So how about you just stand in line and have a nice cup of Shut the F**k Up!
I know it’s Monday morning and all, but please, somebody tell me that ed’s post isn’t serious.
I know it’s Monday morning and all, but please, somebody tell me that ed’s post isn’t serious.
I don’t believe he was serious.
And, PAD, you were far more calm and resonable than I would have been if someone was bad-mouthing MY wife…. Whenever someone throws the line of “you have no idea who you’re f***ing with”, I usually end up laughing at them and tell them I don’t give a flying f***.
Hopefully, coming home won’t be such a bad experience for you and your family.
Geez. I thought we had it rough last month when flight delays had us sitting on the tarmac (with a 2-year-old) for SIX HOURS … but now I’m realizing ways in which it could’ve been a lot worse. Condolences to PAD and especially Kath — here’s hoping that you beat the odds and make all of this go away very easily.
Mike (Weber), I love that story. I wish I had the physical presence to be able to pull something like that off.
TWL
The Chappaquiddick reference was obvious enough, and pretty funny. As for “John John” (I assume he had outgrown the name a few years previously), his piloting skills speak for themselves. I feel much more sympathy for his sister in law and a bit more for his wife, than I do for him, as they died without any stupidity on their part beyond getting on the plane. When other people die because of one’s recklessness the romanticism of the whole thing disappears.
I am sympathetic to Mrs. David’s situation, but it is very likely PAD was already aware that things like this do happen: The fact that it affected his own family makes it neither a larger nor a smaller outrage. (On his set-to with the linebreaker, what can I say but that he was right?) I know several aged women, in their 80s, American-born, and part of the majority ethnicity – statistically unlikely to be involved with international terrorism – who have been subjected to strip searches and enhanced inspection. Strangely enough, I do not know anyone else to whom it has occurred. It appears that TSA enforcement is largely at the caprice of the inspectors.
> Geez. I thought we had it rough last month when flight delays had us sitting on the tarmac (with a 2-year-old) for SIX HOURS …
Homeland (in)Security meets deregulated airlines. And the merriest of good luck to you all.
Of course, you could always elect another government, one which takes a less extreme tact on things.
“Remember, it’s not about keeping the public safe, it’s about keeping their phoney-baloney jobs safe.”
In that vein, my Mom had an interesting story. 3 or 4 years ago she and my Dad took a very nice international trip. The airline searched her bags and confiscated her nail clippers. So obviously, small nail clippers are too dangerous to allow passengers to have.
When the meal was served on the flight, it included full silverware, including real metal steak knives.
I have a theory (which I never repeat in the presence of customs people, who have even less of a sense of humor than Catholic school nuns) which is that somewhere there is a group of bad dudes who are less concerned with blowing us up than just f**king with us. After one drunken night out, one of them said, ‘What we can do to make their lives miserable?’ and his equally drunken companion said, ‘Let’s trick some really dumb guy into trying to blow up his shoes; that way everybody will have to take off their shoes and sneakers whenever they walk through the airport!’
A couple of years later, the bad dudes get together again and try to figure out what would be an even more ridiculous item to get confiscated. ‘I know, the first guy says, ‘Let’s get them to ban liquids; that way, people can’t even bring a bottle of factory-sealed water onto a plane, unless they buy it at the airport for an inflated price!’ The second guy thinks about it and says, “But aren’t they going to figure out that there’s nothing dangerous about a sealed bottle of water?” “Of course not,” says Bad Dude #1, “these are the guys who ban lighters but allow matches! These are the guys who ban nail clippers but allow dozens of items that are much sharper and more dangerous!’
Makes you wonder what the bad dudes are going to get banned the next time they get together for a couple of beers. If we’re really lucky this time, maybe it will be screaming babies.
Sorry to hear about your airport troubles!
My husband and I had a few troubles in May/June during our 3-week Europe trip but the only airport that gave us hassle was London-Heathrow. Never again will we fly there. Let’s just say the first two times (of the four passes we made there) went fine but the last two were horrible. It included searching me and padding me down twice within 2hrs even when the metal detector didn’t go off but of course I didn’t want to cause trouble despite my desire to make a smart-ášš remark about the female security personnel wanting to feel me up. We noticed though that there seemed to be an abundance of “well-endowed” women who were being pulled aside for check despite the “random 3 persons” check the security guy told us they do.
Even though this was a foreign airport, it really made me wonder about security checks since I only have been searched once on any of the flights I’ve made domestically in my whole life. I got checked and questioned more often this time than I did going to Europe immediately following 9/11 and the start of the war in 2003. Either way, LAX (our most local international airport) security is a joke be it domestic or international flights.
You married that woman without doing a full background check on her? Serves you right for becoming involved with a known terrorist.
“these are the guys who ban lighters”
And now lighters are going to be allowed again, more or less (imo) on the basis that the TSA is giving up on trying to keep people from bringing them on flights to begin with.
It’s all about the money, people. At Bradley, your nail clippers will be confiscated (before you commit a hangnail offense), but on the other side of the check you are perfectly allowed to by a new pair at the newstand. There is no sense to any of it. At Bradley, my husband watched them take the crutches from a man with only one leg, and then demand that he remove the leg – but wouldn’t give him back the crutches to stand up with in the meantime. He almost intervened, but figured he’d be arrested if he did.
Well, I, my father, and brother, have all had to go through extra hassles at airports because terrorism suspects on the “No Fly List” supposedly share our names. I’m Scott Jones. They are both Charles Jones. When you see in the newspaper terrorists arrested, how many of them have been named Jones, anyway?
So how about you just stand in line and have a nice cup of Shut the F**k Up!
I know it’s Monday morning and all, but please, somebody tell me that ed’s post isn’t serious.
Do you really have to ask? Wasn’t I O’Reilly enough for you?:-}
BTW, if you’re all wondering why lighters, you might want to look at the cosy relationship the Tobacco Lobby has with this White House. We really don’t want smokers without lighters when the rush from the plane to light up.
Jeffrey Frawley: “As for “John John” (I assume he had outgrown the name a few years previously), his piloting skills speak for themselves. I feel much more sympathy for his sister in law and a bit more for his wife, than I do for him, as they died without any stupidity on their part beyond getting on the plane. When other people die because of one’s recklessness the romanticism of the whole thing disappears.”
It is worth noting that John Kennedy Jr. was cleared for take-off by the FAA and had the training required by law to allow him to fly in such conditions.
Here’s what I think happened: Mr. “You don’t know who you’re f-ing with,” was with Homeland Security, off duty. At the back of the line, he snapped Kathleen’s pic with his camera phone, ran it through Carnivore, got a name to go with the face, then hastily typed her name (with a mistype, but close enough) through his PDA into the no-fly list.
“Wasn’t I O’Reilly enough for you?:-}”
Actually, Ed, only the “Great Leader Bush” bit tipped me off. The rest was too subtle. I know it doesn’t seem subtle, but that’s the downside of written sarcasm for you.
I understand this was an attempt at humor, but I knew John John before he died, and this is in no way funny. He was a dámņ good pilot and I still have dire misgivings about the “official” story of how that plane went down
Who the hëll mentioned JFK Jr?
I recall a referece to Splash Kennedy
Of course, you could always elect another government, one which takes a less extreme tact on things.
Roughly half a metric shitload of us tried, my good man. 🙂
TWL
My oldest daughter ALWAYS has to go through the whole shoe wipe special treatment. So there must be some cute 17 year old red headed terrorist out there. Or they have orders to deliberately go after a certain amount of red heads just to make it look random–the Persian looking members of my family tend to get extra attention as well.
And given the shoddy treatment the airlines have given consumers since day one, you know they are just loving the ability to do it under the protection of national security. Screw ’em. I’ll drive. (of course, it helps to have the summer off when you say that).
maybe its been lucky that my state ID (what those of us who don’t have a driver’s license need to make us ‘official’) expired and i haven’t been able to get a new one since i moved to another state.
my last name is the same as a famous cartoon family that has a new movie coming out soon. I’m sure if i tried to fly they’d hall me off for somehow having a Homer connection;)
Wasn’t I O’Reilly enough for you?:-}
Well, I read stuff enough stuff from crazy people who really do write stuff like what you wrote.
Also, I’m honestly not familiar enough with your name & posts to automatically make the assumption of whether something you write is sarcastic or not. 🙂
Posted by: Tim Lynch
Well, i don’t any more – at almost 60 (i was somewhere in my mid-30s then) balding and sadly overweight, i doubt i could intimidate anyone much.
And it was, as i said, a dumb thing to do – i could literally hjave gone to prison for aggravated assault.
(Actually, my favourite personal “áššhølë deterrence through physical intimidation” esperience was the time that Bill Ritch [a name Kathleen will recognise; he’s about a full head taller than i am] and i stood at opposite ends of a row in a midnight movie and loomed over the entire row of drunken frat types and their girls…)
Sounds like Wal-Mart 😛 I get crap like that everyday there but I work there
“He informs me I have no idea who I’m f***ing with, and then heads to the back of the line”
Apparently he was a very dangerous man, with many dangerous connections, since he did well…nothing.