When Is Airport Security Really Security

I’m assuming that most of the blog readers have flown, some many times but most have been thru security on more than one occasion. So we all know how very important it is to have our shoes and limited amounts of liquids checked, oh so thoroughly!

I recently flew home on a 2-leg flight and was glad that I actually made it back. My meeting was over at noon and my flight home didn’t leave until 7pm so I was in no hurry at all.

I got to the airport about 3 hours early and actually hoped that I could catch the earlier flight so that I could pick up some Starbucks. I had the check-in email sent to my phone so that I could use it instead of the usual check-in at a kiosk or counter. Since no one was at the counter I mentioned to the representative that I’d check in at security but asked about catching the earlier flight. She said that they’d been having some problems with that system so she’d just get my boarding passes for me and that I couldn’t get the earlier flight. She asked my last name and looked in the computer, finding it quickly. She printed my boarding passes and I was on my way.

I went thru security, they checked my laptop and shoes but the woman behind me had a sparkly sweater and they were concerned about patting this woman down. Wow, now sparkles can be so dangerous you know!

So off I went to finish my Netflix I’d been watching while I waited for my flight. I thought to check my boarding pass just to verify the flight and gate before settling in. What a shock, I was on the earlier flight. I then checked the 2^nd leg and saw that it was to Canada. Now I love visiting Canada but hadn’t planned to go there that night. Then I looked more closely and saw that I had boarding passes for a different person. I found that our names were basically the same but slightly different spellings.

I went to the gate desk and pointed out the error. Those boarding passes were snatched from my hands so quick and new ones printed.

Now I understand how the airline made an error but the TSA supposedly scrutinized my boarding pass and photo ID. Hum, now I’m wondering how I got thru? Did they not check? What was that person doing anyway? I mean it isn’t brain surgery that these people are doing. And if I could get thru with someone else’s boarding passes how can we be sure that they won’t give the same amount of inattention to someone who has ill intent.

Just makes you wonder what we are paying for here.

A Beautiful Granddaughter Lost

How life can turn so quickly. I wrote this in Feb but could not bear to put it into print until now as it was too painful.

We’d planned to go to our son’s in the bay area for the weekend; hold our little granddaughter for a while and then babysit the 15 month old while they had a date night Saturday night. We wanted to spend a little time with the baby before she underwent open heart surgery on the next Monday.

Late Thursday the Doctors advised our son and wife that the prognosis for our granddaughter was actually very grim. Our granddaughter faced a short life of heart surgeries, other surgeries and uncontrollable seizures that were actually just starting to manifest themself; a life that is very difficult to manage. The kids decided to stop the suffering.

We drove up to their house with heavy hearts stopping at the hospital as planned. Holding our little granddaughter, all hooked up to machines, I felt so badly for her. The only thing she knew was to be poked and prodded with tubes in her and stuff stuck onto her. She had never even seen the sun. I cried as I held her close.

On Saturday instead of a date night for our son and daughter in law, the 4 of us sat at the table discussing the decision to not use extraordinary means to prolong life and how best to celebrate it. Our brave kids having to make horrible decisions. We went on to our room and leaving our son and daughter-in-law downstairs then heard the anguished cries from a distraught mother.

Sunday arrived and with heavy hearts we drove down to the hospital for some family time. We took the 15 month old for her goodbyes and some photos. When we arrived our little baby had been disconnected from everything but oxygen. The nurse helped take her outside for some family time and photos. Her first time in the sun and fresh air.

The hospital then had the family go to a private room where my daughter-in-law would stay with her baby until the end, whenever that might be.

We are now going up to say goodbye to our little one. We will be there for our son/wife and stay to help in any capacity that we can. This was to be such a happy time for them, a new baby born on Jan 10^th, a new year. The little dresses are all lined up, a new crib with new bedding waiting for the new arrival. Now everything must be put away, it must break my daughter-in-law’s heart.

As we know having experienced tragedy before, they will move on, put this in a box, but they will never forget the little girl they had for such a short time.