Reply #3: The key is on your boarding pass, or how you bought your ticket ... [View All]

[LastDemocratInSC]

The next time you fly, look at your boarding pass. If you see a line of SSS or SSSS anywhere on it, you're due for extra screening. The passes on which this are printed are currently randomly selected. I've never been selected but my wife recently was, and we went through security at Charlotte's Douglas Airport without any extra security measures being applied to her.

She and I were in different rows on the airplane and wanted to sit together so I went to the guy at the gate desk and asked if there was any way that we could switch around. He saw the SSS on her boarding pass and just freaked out because there's supposed to be a special stamp put on your boarding pass if you're singled out for extra security and have undergone the extra search.

Within minutes there were several people at the gate waving wands around my wife and asking questions and poking into her carry-on pocketbook. No, we never got seats together.

The other issue is how you buy your ticket. My little 4 year old grandson flew down to see us last summer with my wife, who had a round trip ticket. Iain, my little guy, had a one way ticket because we were planning to drive him back home. So there he was, a little boy, being asked to take off his shoes, his shirt, empty out his tiny backpack, the wand thing, and all the rest. All they found were crayons, plastic dinosaurs, and an old donut. So much for security.

Welcome to the Brave New World.