Getting stuck in the Houston airport has given me yet another opportunity to appreciate my favorite thing about IAH - the carts that drive people from one gate to another don't have any sort of horn or beeping noise. Instead, the driver is constantly repeating "Excuse the Cart Please" as loudly or as quietly as he or she desires. I noticed today that they actually have a sticker on the cart with that phrase. I guess so that they'll remember what to say.
Last weekend, I discovered that in the Ottawa airport, every passenger is required to take every piece of electronics out of their bag, jacket, whatever. I remembered to take out the iPod and the phone, but forgot about the Palm and the camera. As I rolled my eyes, the friendly US government employee informed me that "since September 11, they do this everywhere." One of the unique pleasures of flying these days is listening to the TSA staff in every airport claim that their policies are in fact those of the nation. This guy didn't seem interested in my observation that none of the other 20 or so US airports nor any of the international airports from which I have flown to the US post-9/11 had a similar policy.
At SFO, meanwhile, I was recently surprised at the level of professionalism and knowledge of the security staff (they recommended that I take off my shoes, I said they didn't have any metal, and then, although they would not require me to take them off, as soon as I went through the metal detector, they immediately put me in the full search line - I objected ("if you want me to wear 37 pieces of flare, just set the minimum to 37") and they started quoting the web site telling me where to go to find the policy they were enforcing). I later discovered that in fact, SFO is one of two 'pilot programs' where airport security is actually outsourced. What a crazy idea...
Posted by Stephen Bronstein at November 18, 2003 12:00 AM