I Felt REALLY Secure

With the new rules about proving your cell phone and computers can turn on before boarding a plane, I thought I would share the security process I went through at the Hamburg airport on my way to Newark. It's going to take longer to get through security than it is to fly...OK, not really, but still, it's getting to be a lengthy process.

  • Passport check and questions answered about who packed my bag, etc. before being allowed to check my bag.
  • Passport verified again when checking in at United counter.
  • Regular Germany security. Shoes on, metal detector, computer out of bag.
  • Newly implemented (second time only) additional scan of computer that was carried by security to a side room and swabbed down before returning it.
  • Free to head to gate.
  • Get to gate and go through customs check.
  • Additional security scan. Shoes off, pockets empty, computer out, the wooshy full body scanner. Computer swabbed again. My TSA Pre status meant nothing.
  • Another passport check with further questions about what I may have purchased at the airport (done by the same guy as the first time).
  • Final passport verification when boarding the plane.
Here's the thing. Once I got past the customs check, there was no place for me to go. All of the final security checks were literally within 20-30 feet of each other. I don't know what shenanigans they thought I could pull off in trading identities or who knows what. But, hey I did it and I didn't complain. Because I just wanted to get home.

DNA sampling can't be too far behind.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TV At Its Finest

I was talking to someone today who didn’t know who Bob Newhart was. I cut him some slack because he’s a youngster and didn’t grow up in the U.S. I told him about The Bob Newhart show and how it became a college drinking game and about Newhart, "Hi, I'm Larry; this is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl." He was going to go to Wikipedia and do some research. The conversation got me thinking. Back in the day (like when dinosaurs were alive and I was young and there were only four channels on TV), we caught a lot of reruns of what are now considered classic TV. Especially, if you were a latchkey kid like I was, there wasn’t a lot going on in the afternoon/early evening so it was either soap operas or reruns unless you were allowed to be outside and play. And, of course, during summer vacation you had even more time to watch the boob tube. Here’s what I remember watching during those years: Gilligan’s Island, Big Valley (I’m still looking for my very own N...
Read more

February 2020

Image
Most of 2020 sucked. But, there were some good moments that made memories to cling to. I'm going to review some of those moments from each month. (Disclaimer - my memory isn't what it used to be so this is my story and I'm sticking to it regardless of reality.) I moved into my house in May of 2019 and it was already hot out so I used the Arizona summer as an excuse not to do anything to my patio or yard. I don't recall what excuse I used to justify ignoring the both in the fall and winter. Let's go with complete laziness. It's entirely plausible. However, I had to get on the stick and pretty it up because I had a bunch of company scheduled for the spring. The first thing I did was get some inexpensive chairs from Target for my beat up table. I honestly thought I could jam them into my car. I really, really did. One would never guess I was a Tetris master. After several futile attempts, this is how it ultimately went down. Adam (answering cell): Hi, Kathy! Me: Hi...
Read more