Travel: It Ain't What It Used To Be

I've told you a little about my trip while in Pittsburgh, but not about the travel part. You should know by know, nothing is easy.....

This was my first time to fly since 9-11. I was a prepared traveler. I had gotten my e-mail about the increased travel alert, what I could/couldn't take on the plane. I learned from my youth, it's just better to follow the directions and go with the flow. I left all the forbidden contraban at home. I knew I had to take my shoes off and wore quick and easy shoes.

I'm in Huntsville at 5:00AM  to make my 7:00 flight. I am standing in line, boarding pass and ID in hand. I go up to the trays, put in my carry-on bag, another tray for purse and shoes.... then walk through the metal detector.  BBBEEEEEPPPPPP...  Oh cr*p! I left my keys in my pocket... throw those onto one of the trays. The guy proceeds to tell me if I beep again I will have to go "OVER THERE".... Of course, it beeps again and I have to go through a plexi-glass shoot where there are rugs with feet on them and a chair. Two women come over and one of them is snapping on her blue latex gloves (I swear I thought I saw a gleam in her eye.).  WTF??  I hated to tell her this, but we were NOT going to do a full body cavity search for the entertainment of others unless I'm getting paid rather handsomely for it!  Well, needless to say, I should have worried about something else. As she passed the wand over me, it beeped like is some odd places. A LOT. I swear I began to wonder if I had metal plates inserted and had forgotten about it!  She has to 'pat me down' to find the metal. Turns out it was my belt with the little studs on it (who knew??) and the hooks on my bra (didn't even have underwires... Mental Note: next time, no bra!)

After I have gathered my stuff, put my shoes on, I walk to the gate. Aaawww.. thank goodness... no one around. I can pull myself together a little.  I am watching CNN about John Mark Karr killing Jon Bennett (of course he's from Alabama... like we don't have enough problems with our reputation) and a woman walks by. She is dragging a bag that is about 3 feet  x 3 feet and it is stuffed to the max!  I look over at my little pink carry-on and just sigh.  She sits about 5seats down from me.  A little time passes and I hear her talking. At first, I don't much of it because I live alone and.... oops, TMI.   OK, back to her....  I know she can't be talking to me... I glance over and she has a smaller bag with a towel over it.  She keeps holding the towel up and talking to the bag...  I never could understand what she was saying... but I was glad she wasn't talking to me.....

I will say, after I boarded in Huntsville, I had no more issues.  The moral to this story?? Sometimes, it's just getting started that is a pain.