I’m back, yay hooray. Now, a story about my return trip:
Okay, so I’m going through security at Pittsburgh International Airport (or PIT, as the hip airport-savvy kids are calling it), when one of the security folks flagged me down and informed me that I was randomly selected for additional security screening. He quickly stamped a friendly little “Inspected By” stamp like you might see on USDA-approved beef and directed me to a nondescript metal detector line to the far right of the rest. I was instructed to remove my shoes (which were then taken from me for additional scans), and after the standard walkthrough metal detector, I was given the wand treatment (this is where they wave their magic wand all around you and up between your legs, dangerously close to the crotchular area) and a friendly all-over pat-down. Afterward, I was directed to a nearby chair while the man proceeded to go through my backpack, making sure there were no hydrogen bombs folded into my t-shirts or whatever (I declined to bring any baggage beyond my carry-on, so it contained all the clothing and toiletries I brought on the trip. I should stress at this point that the bag was exceedingly difficult to pack up before I left for the airport. I didn’t have any larger backpacks available to me, so I had to stuff as many clothes into it as possible).
I don’t want you to get me wrong here. I’m not complaining about the often-berated “price of freedom” portrayed in this story. It’s a price I’m glad to pay in order to feel secure while flying. Of course, I already felt plenty secure before the pat-down, but that’s beside the point.
The point I’m getting at is this: after determining that my bag was cruise missile-free, he instructed me to pack the bag up and took off, with nary an offer to assist me in repacking! Stef can attest to the extreme effort that was necessary to get that zipper closed and contain all the items. And the guy just left me to my own devices! Could he not have at least apologized for the inconvenience?
If rudeness is the aforementioned price of freedom, I may have to rethink my stance on the matter.