Saturday, June 20, 2009

the new watch list: geriatrics

i'm trusting that the airport security teams know more than i do, and that perhaps al-quaeda is changing their recruiting tactics.
going through security at the small airport in portland, maine, elderly people were being pulled aside for security searches on either side of me. to my left a woman who had trouble bending down to take off her shoes, while the man on my left moved so slowly that it took him a while to gather all of his belongings. in wilmington, north carolina, a frail woman with swollen ankles in a wheelchair was being taken behind the glass partition and searched for guns, bombs, and any other signs of being a terrorist.
meanwhile, i, a man in my late twenties with a scruffy beard and copy of the qur'an in my hand, moved through both security gates without a second look.

2 comments:

Jaime said...

seriously. when i went to new york after i had recovered from "the fall", i had an ankle wrap. i took off my shoes and they were like, "WHAT is THAT?!" and pulled me to the side. seriously, if anything was hiding in there, dont you think you'd be able to SEE it?

kwistin said...

so. that's kind of ridiculous. i'm glad you noticed, though. things like that can be easily overlooked. so maybe sometime if you're ever an airport security guy...you'll be more sympathetic.