At the Airport
posted on
Jun 23, 2012 08:35PM
We may not make much money, but we sure have a lot of fun!
The Land of the Scared?
I began my European trip by driving to Montreal, then flying out of there. The difference in airport security when you travel anywhere not including the US is unmistakable. Yes, you have to show passports and put things into plastic trays to go through X-ray machines, then stop through metal detectors - but there's none of the gruff attitudes or taking off shoes. In other words, the process is entirely rational.
And on arriving at our first stop, Paris, I was amazed how relaxed things were. The immigration agent asked no intrusive questions, in fact said nothing but hello as he glanced at my passport, found a blank spot and stamped it. There was no one in customs, so it was grab the bags and straight out the door.
The experience was much the same throughout Europe. Nothing but smiles and the same sort of reasonable security check.
Which is maybe why the experience I had almost immediately upon returning to the States was so remarkable. It started when I was exiting Paris on my return trip, and the border agent pointed out that all of the pages of my passport were now entirely covered in stamps, and so I would need to have pages added.
Thus, after landing back in the States and driving across the US border (where the traffic was backed up for half an hour), I headed to the passport office in St. Albans, Vermont.
The office is located there because St. Albans is the nearest town to the border with Canada. It is a not a big town and doesn't have very many amenities - which is what you would expect in rural Vermont.
I had managed to secure an appointment by phone on return to North America, and even though I was tired from my just-completed trip, I headed to the appointment prior to finishing the drive home.
Locating the office in a small brick building on Main Street, I walked in and to my deep surprise was met by three fully uniformed, fully armed TSA officers manning a standard-issue security screening station complete with X-ray machine and a metal detector.
Half-hidden behind a desk at the front of the screening station, all of which had had to be squeezed into a narrow hallway in the small building, was a fairly young ex-soldier type, his arms decorated with the oh-so-cliche tattoos of oriental symbols.
"Welcome to the passport office," he said in a growl without looking up at me. "Your identification, please. Do you have any guns, knives or explosives on you?"
I assured him I did not, but apparently he didn't believe me because I was told to empty my pockets and take off my belt and drop them into the plastic bin on the X-ray machine conveyor belt manned by one of his colleagues, before proceeding through the metal detector manned by the third.
Retrieving my belongings while stifling a laugh at the absurd comedy of the whole thing, I proceeded into the inner sanctum of the passport office, a small and unremarkable place on a scale with the waiting room of a one-room dental practice.
There I discovered that the waiting room was partitioned off from the workers by a floor-to-ceiling security barrier, complete with bullet-proof glass and a speaker you had to use to communicate with the clerk on the other side.
So, essentially you have a full-blown security detail and equipment installed and operated at the cost of what surely must run over $200,000 a year to protect a couple of clerks who are hidden behind a hardened security barrier.
What the hell could these people be so afraid of? And as this is just an extension of the sort of over-the-top nonsense that is repeated at every airport, every border, every government installation and, increasingly, train stations and public gatherings, I have to also ask: What are we as a people so afraid of? What has happened to our country, the purported land of the brave?
I could go on about this whole scenario at some length, but the day is growing late, and there is still much to be done before wheels up on my next trip, so I won't.
Instead, I will sign off for the day by leaving you with a nice sentiment that I think might help keep things in the proper perspective during the challenging times still ahead. They are words attributed to the Dalai Lama, sent to me by a friend in Nepal.
When asked what surprised him most about humanity, the Dalai Lama answered...
"Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived."
And with that, I will sign off for the day by thanking you for reading and for being a subscriber to a Casey Research service. Together, we'll get through whatever comes next just fine.
Until next time...
David Galland
Managing Director
Casey Research