Flying Across the Wide Missouri

Trust me folks, because the government does. I’m TSA Pre-screened. No long lines, no friendly pat downs, no X-Ray vision sneak peeks at my privates. I’m a TSA VIP! I don’t even remember signing up for pre-screening, but I must have, right? I was queued up for the worst, when an agent asked to see my boarding pass. Then she told me that I didn’t have to wait in line and I was whisked through security. It happened so fast that my head was still spinning when I found myself inside the cordon. I did have to show ID and take off my coat. My bag and coat were X-Rayed and I passed through a metal detector. I didn’t have to remove my shoes or belt and I didn’t have to show off my lap top or liquids and gels. Sweet!

The first leg wasn’t too bad. We landed in Denver, birthplace of the Great One! I didn’t have to change planes and consequently wasn’t even allowed off the plane. The next leg to Seattle was a different matter. Being later in the day, families returning from ski vacations made up a lot of the plane, families with lots of little kids. It was a long and bumpy flight, it was late in the day and the kids were cranky. It soon became a crying flight. Ear buds and an iPhone pretty much drowned out that noise, but they were no match for the little girl behind me, who kept kicking the back of my seat. We finally landed and everyone got ready to deplane. A mother excitedly told her half sleepy family, “We’re home, we’re back in Seattle.” Her son asked looking out the window, “Is that snow?” “No honey, that’s rain, this is Seattle”, she answered. “I want to go back to Vail, where it is sunny and there is snow. Seattle is dark and grey.”, said her son.