Tales of Airport Security

(title for this was stolen from Harry Shearer's excellent radio program and podcast, "Le Show" on KCRW -- highly recommended!)

Today (July 30, 2008) at the airport, after clearing security and waiting for my plane just across from the security scanners I watched as the TSA crew pulled a man aside to go through his carry-on luggage. He was tall and wore glasses, and he also had a large manicured beard and black curly hair; he had the appearance of a kindly Muslim professor. The TSA agent was oddly boisterous and trying to be funny to cover his own obvious discomfort with the situation. The man indicated that he'd been through this routine before and the agent repeated this, laughing loudly and awkwardly. I tried not to watch so as not to make the passenger uncomfortable but I had to steal glances at him because I was touched both by his situation and his gentle nobility while enduring it. His wife stood quietly by and waited, and I felt extremely sorry for her, too.

I couldn't help thinking while I was watching this whole thing, "What are we doing"? This man clearly was no threat to anyone, and yet his looks matched what we're surely profiling: middle-eastern-looking men. But were the TSA agents just doing this to look busy, or did they have an imperative to check a few folks every hour, or perhaps did they see something in him or his luggage that I didn't see? I don't feel any more secure, that's for sure.