This past week I went through security at the following locations: Juneau Alaska, Seattle, Chicago O'Hare, Washington Reagan National, and in reverse order on the way back.
In Juneau, if I had an illegal item it would have been found. I believe they touched every item in my carry-on and checked baggage in my presence. They did a double check on a bottle of hydrogen peroxide that I use to wash my mouth with, and then carefully repacked everything.
In Seattle, my carry-on went through the xray machine, and on the way back was searched. One of two bags was, anyway. The other wasn't searched even after I pointed it out to the agent. While I was waiting for my turn, I observed a passenger in the process of being searched passing an item from his pocket to a companion in the boarding line. It was a cell phone. I pointed this out to the agent, who gave no response. What if it had been a boxcutter knife?
In Chicago, I lost contact with my wallet and my Palm computer through the xray machine. It could have been lifted by a bystander.
Nothing happened at Reagan Airport.
In Washington on my way to the VietNam Memorial, I observed a large package that looked like a bag of fertilizer under a green plastic sheet on a park bench in McPherson Square. I reported same to the first two security officers I encountered. On the way back I checked and it was gone. Most people I talked to thought it was the belonging of a homeless person. I doubt this. The homeless persons in Washington seem to have an incredible amount of baggage that they carry around in stolen grocery carts. The item I reported did not look like a homeless person's belongings.
I found it interesting that the most thorough inspection I got was in my own city. Juneau is a land-locked city. There are only two ways in or out: by air and by water. There is very little violent crime here and no terrorism. No terrorist would choose Juneau because it is so difficult to get in or out. |
