WAAH, WAAH, WAAH

What are your plans for the Thanksgiving holiday?  Will you be with family, friends, or both?  Will you invite someone who is not with loved ones to join you at your table or have you been invited to join others?  Whatever your plans are for the holiday, I pray that you have a blessed one filled with laughter and fun.


As for me, I will be traveling, flying exactly, to Florida to my sister's in a few days to join her and her family for the festivities.  I am super excited because my niece is expecting her second child, a son, any day now.  I will be there until Nov. 30th, so there is a good chance that I will get to meet the little guy.  My niece isn't revealing his name until he is born, so "little guy" will have to do until we learn his proper name.  


I have been following the news regarding flights here in the U.S. during the hectic holiday season and I have to say that I don't know what all the fuss is about.  People are positively incensed about the scanners and the pat downs.  The pat downs have been proclaimed to be minimally invasive, but one thing is for sure, the TSA will not back down. They will be thorough, as it should be. Are there really people who are offended by this?


I have no problem with security checks. In my mind, they are a small price to pay for knowing that everyone on your plane is free of explosives or weapons.  I once worked in a prison and had to go through security checks a half a dozen times a day.  I knew then, like I do now, that it is for the safety of all that everyone comply. I didn't want staff, visitors, or family members bringing in contraband that might jeopardize my life or the life of others.  I became accustomed to it being just a necessary inconvenience that assured that I made it home alive each afternoon.


I make sure I am at the airport within the allotted time and I always leave enough time for unexpected events.  I think the whiners are all of those people who want to arrive minutes before and rush through security and hop on a plane right before it is ready for take off.  Those days are long gone and a new mindset is needed to cope with what will be delayed processing for anyone flying now a days.

So, I will leave an hour an a half early for a domestic flight and although they recommend a two hour advance arrival for international flights, I see that as two and a half hours at the very least what with the new scanners and pat downs that are required. 


 I want to arrive at my destination alive and if this is what it costs to assure that I do, it is a minor inconvenience.  Let the whiners drive, swim, or thumb it.