Real life: prior to 9-11 I could call in or order an e-ticket online, show up at the gate with 15 minutes to wheels-up, and board. Security was cursory. I carried a short [locking] pocket knife. Everywhere. Always. They glanced at it, gave it back, and I was outta there.
Fake life: post 9-11 I take my shoes off, often my belt, empty my pockets, blah, blah, blah, wade through molasses security, get dressed, carry on. The process takes so much longer that I will drive if the total drive time is not more than an hour or two more than the flight.
I drove to Vegas from Reno rather than fly because it was net-net less trouble than the long security lines, the drive was only a couple of hours longer than the drive-to-airport-park-stand-in-line-board-fly-disembark-rent-car-return-car-stand-in-line-board-fly-disembark-find-car-pay-for-parking-drive-home drill. I was able to carry stuff with me that airlines frown on, travel at my own pace, in my own space. Going down, I arrived two hours behind our team. Going back, I got home a day later because I had "itinerary flexibility" and got to visit friends.
I have a friend who's become an expert at air travel. He packs just so. He wears loafers. He optimizes his carry-on and checked bags. It's an art form for him.
It seems to have escaped him that his one-hour flights are now two-hour flights. He's pleased that he "suffers less" than the other travelers. "Making the best" of things. He has forgotten that it's costing him at least an hour at both ends, and often quite a bit more.
I, on the other hand, have arranged my life so that I fly almost never. My vacations don't involve air travel.
Perhaps the whole "enhanced security" cost and the forfeiture of dignity are acceptable to some. My observation is that it's more about a culture of quiet resentment among those who remember travel before anxiety became compulsory.
I haven't done any kind of thorough analysis, but prima facie what we're currently doing is costly and wasteful -- never mind degrading -- and I would wager that most of the members here could offer more viable alternatives.
Want to have some fun? Put me in charge of airline security. After the initial year of chaos, I'll bet I'd have a system that cost less, moved people faster, and (aside from the victims of my profiling) was more acceptable to the vast majority of travelers.
And if I fail in this endeavor, I will step down and we can appoint Fistful to the position.
