dear t.s.a.

to whom it may concern:

typically, thanks to my 2 months of table waiting experience (CHIMI'S!) and 4 months combined of bath & body works and target retail experience, i am typically quite patient and compassionate and grateful toward people who deal with humanity en masse on a daily basis. in my experience traveling, i have never really had an issue with any of the people who work security at airports, nor have i really found a reason to complain about the controlled chaos generally surrounding checkpoints. is it annoying? yes. do i understand? for the most part.

i do believe there are two reasons why i have never had any problems with t.s.a. 1 - i follow the rules. 2 - i have travelled quite a bit and am not as befuddled as some meandering through your lines. however, this morning while making my way through the tulsa airport, my past pleasant experiences in dealing with your employees faded away. when i approached security in tulsa, i READ THE SIGNS LIKE I ALWAYS DO (remember, rule follower here . . .) and saw clearly what my two line choices were. to the left was the "expert traveler" line (which was NOT clearly marked due to the chaos generally surrounding your gates as mentioned above) and to the right was the "casual traveler" line. now, i realize that i was not on a business trip this weekend, but just because i was on a "vacation" does not mean that i am no less the expert in traveling. because i am a rule follower, i didn't just choose the shorter/faster line (expert traveler). instead, i read the sign to make sure that i was going to the right line so that i would not be a burden to my fellow travelers. the expert sign listed these three criteria - understanding security procedures, traveling light, and fly often. i went though my own mental checklist: all gels and such sealed in a ziploc bag and ready to put in the bin, shoes easy to remove, no water bottles, no laptop, etc. judging from the five business men in front of me who had SUIT JACKETS ON, MUCH LARGER SUITCASES, and LAPTOPS, i decided i was traveling much lighter than these "expert travelers," so i followed them into line. i was in this line for about 7 minutes and then i met the t.s.a. worker i will refer to as THE JUDGE. the judge looked at the five men in front of me and allowed them to continue into the expert line. then, the judge put HER HAND ON MY SHOULDER and started to PUSH me toward the "casual traveler" line that was (by this point) FIVE TIMES as long as the line i was already in.

now. i would go into further detail about the conversation i had with the judge, but it really doesn't have to do with why i was frustrated after my encounter with her. (in the end i did switch lines, but that is because i am a KIND AND GENEROUS person and i realized that there were 300 people behind me waiting to meet her judgement as well, so i didn't want to cause a problem for THOSE people - also, i may have been a little scared of the amazon woman you dispensed to judge us as 'expert' or 'casual.') but as i stewed in the casual traveler line, offended because the judge had pretty much done two things that irritate me more than anything - treated me like someone who was clueless (which i am not!) and like i was guilty of something - and stressed because i kept hearing them call my flight's final boarding, i started to notice a trend. nearly 93.4% of the "expert traveler" line was made up of males. honestly, i am not one to wave the discrimination flag around. i take it very seriously. but, i am bothered by how rash this judge was to assume that only males would have somewhere important to be and that they were 'experts.' by deeming them so, she allowed them all to get through security much faster than the rest of us. those five men who were right next to me initially? you remember, the five who had way more "stuff" to be x-rayed than i did? all five of them were through security THIRTY minutes before me. none of these 'experts' had to run through the airport to board their flight just 15 seconds before it pulled away from the gate.

apparently, the next time i fly i need to remember to bring my list of how many times i have been through security within the last year. will that grant me "expert" status like the boys?

sincerely,
sarah - rule follower and quiet feminist

_________________________________

not all of the trip was bad . . . yay jan and paul! yall better get busy making me some ice cream. also, just to prove that i don't hate everyone in the service industry, i'd like to suggest (to frequent dallas flyers)  the parking spot at lovefield or your local airport. it is my new favorite place to park and osmar, my shuttle driver, almost made up for the amazon judge who started my morning. almost.

now, if you'll excuse me, i'm gonna go cuddle with my dog who scored "anxious" on her report card from the boarder. this makes me sad for her.