When TSA agents have to remind people that you can't wear your shoes, a regulation since 2003 or that you need to put your jackets and sweaters through the x-ray machine it shows that we truly don't pay attention to anything but our own iPhones, Blackberries, text messages etc. Ever since they implemented the metal detector we have not been able to carry change, wear a belt buckle or a wallet chain or anything metal, this is nothing new people! The bins, oh the bins, it is as if people think that the job of a TSA agent is to pick up our crap that we leave lying around! It is proof of our absolute lack of concern for anyone but ourselves. Just the same as leaving the shopping carts lying around in the parking lot of Target, Wal-Mart, and the grocery store because we're too lazy as a people to walk the 500 ft at max! to the cart return, we can't even lift the gray bins that our belongings were in while going through the x-ray off the conveyor belt and back onto the pile less than 5 ft away!!
If we stopped for just a moment and looked at our own behavior we should be appalled at how rude and inconsiderate we are! I admit I fall victim to the constant checking of my iPhone in public or texting while I should be paying attention, and many times I bitch and moan about new TSA regulations that seem counter-intuitive and many of our complaints are valid when it comes to some of the regulations such as the one here in XKCD: http://www.xkcd.com/651/ but honestly we would complain if safety wasn't the government's priority.
I have had the wonderful misfortune of flying on the same day as many failed attacks, from trying to fly home from Madrid to JFK in 2002 on the flight scheduled to leave immediately after the flight from Paris to JFK that the shoe bomber was on, to last Christmas 2009 when I flew from New Orleans to Madison WI, in the air at the same time as the idiot on the flight to Detroit who tried to blow himself up. I have had first hand experience with the immediate safety enforcements. Is it inconvenient to remove my shoes and jacket and laptop from my bag? Yes it is inconvenient, does it have any long term repercussions on my life in any way? Of course not!!! An extra 5 minutes will not be the deciding factor between a happy life and an unhappy one unless I let it.
The sad but true facts of life right now are that we have lost sight of true human decency and honest self reflection. We are not willing to see that we are just as much part of the problem as the person at the Lost Baggage counter, or the attendant at the check in counter, or the TSA agent that we swear couldn't possibly have a high school education. There are many people who probably shouldn't be in customer service positions because it isn't their gift, but there are just as many customers who shouldn't be complaining for their own mistakes as if it were someone else's fault.
We all need to take a few moments and assess our own actions and how they might affect those around us. It is the Christmas season and whether you believe in it or not this time of year is supposed to be convicting of how our lives should be more gracious to others, and that giving is better than receiving. Maybe this year we could give one another a break, share an extra smile, a kind word to the people we see everyday and might not acknowledge. You'd be amazed how far a smile can go.
Here is my smile to you :)
Have a wonderful day, enjoy your life wherever it may be.
