Up In The Air

The woman in front of me announced loudly, "Jimmy, don't let the security man find the bomb in your suitcase." As you might imagine, the statement caused quite a stir. The airport security guards stopped the screening line, located Jimmy's suitcase, and searched it. Meanwhile, the woman chatted with her friend, whining about how seriously the security detail seemed to take her obvious joke. One of the security guys finally leaned over to her and said, "Ma'am, joking about explosives in a bag is a federal offense. You can go to jail for that."

Assured that Jimmy did not, in fact, have a bomb in his suitcase, Jimmy and his Mom were cleared through security along with the rest of the two families making their way on a fun family weekend.

At the time, I was upset because I usually left myself five minutes to park my car in the parking garage and clear security. With five minutes before flight time, I would hit the bar for a beer and then climb onto the plane as one of the last entrants. Jimmy's Mom was cutting into my Friday afternoon bar time after a hard week consulting.

This was in 1985. The time before terrorists.

Today, Jimmy and his Mom would be lucky if they weren't shot. They certainly would be arrested. In all likelihood, the entire airport would shut down, and possibly be evacuated. We would all be on the wrong side of security for a beer, and most likely would wait outside for an hour or two, shivering in the cold Detroit air, before operations resumed.

I am not condoning Jimmy's Mom's behavior. As I said, I was pretty angry at the time, and the story has stuck with me all these years. But after watching the movie "Up In the Air," I was reminded once again by what the terrorists have taken from us.

First and foremost, they have taken away our common sense. We don't want to profile people at the risk of appearing racially insensitive, so 82 year old grandmas undergo humiliating searches and wandings and questionings as TSA agents attempt to figure out if Grandma has the necessary paperwork to clear her metal hip through security. In 2005, Jon Stewart hosted a pundit who joked after the shoe bomber attempted his attack and we were then all forced to take off our shoes, "You'll know the terrorists really have a sense of humor when we see the underwear bomber." I guess the terrorists have a sense of humor.

I left my consulting job of 23 years in some small part because the travel was no longer fun. I used to love the fast-paced race from ticket window to gate. One of the greatest joys was boarding a plane as they slammed the door behind you, confident that you had not wasted a minute waiting.

Now, we all wait. We wait and wait and wait and are humiliated in the process. We are made to feel stupid the one time we forget to remove our three ounce bottles of shampoo and toothpaste and deodorant from our bags and are admonished by the TSA agent that we must place the items in a clear plastic bag. One time, my deodorant was in a 4.5 ounce container. I begged the agent to let me slide so that I was not forced to find a drugstore during my overnight business trip. She did, but not before giving me a stern warning about what would happen "next time."

We wait, and we are humiliated. And worst of all, we all know it is a colossal waste of time. If airport security isn't even checking the names of the guys on the terrorist watch list, and we let a Nigerian with a one-way ticket paid for in cash with no luggage board a plane, then what are they going to find in the endless shoe-searching and patting down and removing the laptops from the bag charades?

The attacks on board planes since 9/11 have been prevented by citizens. One of the four surprise attacks on 9/11 was prevented by citizens who would not allow their plane to attack the White House or wherever it was headed. The government needs to start treating us as allies and as adults. We are all in this together. Don't look at me like I am some type of criminal for carrying on a large deodorant, and I won't hold you accountable for terrorist attacks. Let's work together to do our best to prevent terrorists, and then rally when we are attacked.

I didn't blame George Bush or the CIA or the predecessor to the TSA for 9/11. And I don't expect them to keep us safe now. What I can't forgive is the humiliating pointless activities that rob us of our privacy and dignity. The terrorists are always going to be probing for holes and looking for ways to hurt us.

Benjamin Franklin said, "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." We deserve better than what we have now. We deserve better than the loss of freedom and dignity. We are a great nation and great people if we are resilient in the face of attack and terrorism. We let the terrorists win if we let them rob us of privacy, and liberty, and dignity, and then, when attacked, we attack each other and seek to hold good people responsible for the acts of evildoers.

I heard some say Obama should have fired everyone who was involved in allowing the underwear bomber to attack. Yet in the private sector, the greatest leaders allow people to learn from their mistakes. We need to be more tolerant, more forgiving of those who are trying to protect us. In exchange, our leaders and those who seek to protect us need to treat us with respect, honor our rights, and work with us to meet this threat of evil. If not, we don't deserve to be free, and we will not be safe.