When we arrived back to Dulles from Paris on Valentine’s Day, I was denied access to Global Entry. For those who don’t know what that is, I’ll tell you it is pure gold. It allows you to bypass the long lines at USA immigration and simply place your passport in a slot, put your hand on the glass - and bingo, you get a slip of paper to hand to the waiting agent and you are out of there. It also comes with TSA Pre which allows you to go to special lines where you don’t have to take off shoes or belts, you can leave your liquids in your bag, and your don’t have to take computers out of the suitcase. It is magic.
It appears my membership lapsed on my birthday while I was out of the country so I never thought about it until I was denied access. Fortunately there was a very kind immigration officer who brought me to a desk, asked a few questions and let me through without having to go back into the general population! She said to make sure I renewed soon, and I applied the very next day but I am still waiting since it can take up to two months! In the meantime, I’m without status and have to go though the normal channels at airports.
I had occasion last week to take a quick trip to Florida to see the girls and their families. The trip down was fine but coming home reminded me of how much I took TSA Pre for granted and how much I missed it. I had to arrive at the Tampa Airport security lines two hours before the flight because the night before there had been lots of cancellations due to weather in the mid-west and the airport was jammed. The TSA Pre line was almost empty but I couldn’t talk my way into it, so I got in line with everyone else and just waited and waited.
Since the airlines have started charging for checked bags, everyone tries to bring steamer trunks - or at least suitcases that look as large as steamer trunks - onto the plane. It also appeared that everyone in the line had at least three kids, all of whom were rather miffed at having to be somewhere at 06:45! (I shared their concern.) As we slowly moved toward the conveyor belt I had the chance to watch the tragic opera that was unfolding in front of my eyes. There were TSA agents reciting their mantra, “take out your fluids, computers, iPads and phones and place them in the baskets. Take off your shoes and jackets and belts and place them in the baskets; everything else must be placed on the conveyor belt. No keys or other metal in your pockets. Now what do you suppose the most asked questions were to these polite agents? Yep, “Do I need to take off my shoes?” “Can I keep my computer in the bag?” “Can I keep my phone in my pocket?”, and so on ad nauseam.
Finally through security, with an hour to spare, I made my way to a quiet place I know where there are small tables and electrical outlets and no people. On the way, I passed a rather long line for Chick’ Filet which wasn’t scheduled to open for another fifteen minutes; these folks must love their chicken. The line for Starbucks was twenty deep as was the line for Pei Wei, a fast food Asian fusion joint. I did a bit of writing and then purchased a bottle of water since the good folks at United don’t come around often with refreshments in coach. I still have my status with UA and was able to board the plane early enough to secure a space in the overhead for my suitcase and jacket. I settled into my aisle seat, which didn’t recline since it was in front of the exit row, and played the, ‘who is going to sit next to me?’ game with myself. It was a no-brainer however because the minute I saw this huge lady with a baby and two big bags start waddling down the aisle,I was sure it was her - so sure that I stood up as she got close - and of course I had picked correctly! I kept praying for the door to close and get the flight underway (and over with), but that was not to be. Since the flight was full and everyone had lots of luggage there was no more room in the overhead bins, yet the flight attendants had allowed about twelve people on with luggage despite the fact that they knew the bins were full. That meant that these good folks had to make their way back up to the jetway, tag the bags and get back to their seats while the ground crew took the bags to the cargo hold. Another fifteen minute delay!
Now I won’t bore you with details of the flight, except to say that it was a very long two hours in the air, and right in the middle of the flight I started to smell something rather nasty and looked up from my iPad to see my seat mate changing her baby on top of the tray table in front of her. I said I would be happy to get up so she could go to the bathroom that has a changing table, but she didn’t want to get up while the plane was moving!!! I dug out a ziplock that I always carry and gave it to her for the diaper but she didn’t seem to know how to seal it so I did that for her and placed it near her bag on the floor. Even if they had served food, I couldn’t have eaten! The minute I got off that plane I took really deep breaths and did all I could to get out of the terminal and into fresh air as soon as possible. Ah, the joys of flying!!
Best wishes, Cindy and Wm
