TSA

Yesterday I signed up with the Transportation Security Administration for priority pre-check boarding. I have not flown anywhere for over a year and have no current plans to board an airplane but my wife Mollie already possesses the credential. She sent in my preliminary paperwork and made an appointment for me. So I went. Even so, I waited 40 minutes until my name was called. I found it incongruous that everyone in the queue with me was willing to wait that long for a pass that merely allows them to wait in a shorter line at the airport. The process included verifying information, getting fingerprinted, taking a photo (no smile allowed), and paying $85. My wife had submitted my birthplace as New York City, but I corrected that to New Rochelle. We have made pilgrimages together to my birthplace and she has heard me identify New Rochelle for over half a century of border crossings, so I was surprised she thought I was born in New York City. When the intake officer asked me to spell New Rochelle, I realized I was the only living person fascinated with the details of my birth. It seemed odd that this process took place inside a Staples office supply store in a strip mall. I was disappointed Staples was out of replacement ink for the printer they sold me a few months ago, so I could not even ink two birds with one brush. But I had plenty of time to jot down notes for this posting. Unfortunately, no earthquake struck, no celebrity walked in, and no fist fight broke out over masking requirements. Otherwise this would be a much more interesting Blog.