New York -

Last weekend I got to go to New York. As a new engineer, I was invited (along with approximately 75 recent graduates from around the country) to my company’s headquarters for a conference designed to welcome all the new professionals into the company. I was excited to go and dreading the trip all at the same time. Mostly my dread came from the fact that I was not too sure how I would react to the chaos called New York.

The chaos started early because there had been a security breech prior to my arriving to the airport. TSA shut down the entire terminal and evacuated everyone causing me and many others to have to wait in line over an hour before entering (or re-entering) the terminal. I was disappointed with my fellow human beings as I observed everyone’s reaction to this “inconvenience”. Unfortunately, complaining and cursing was the norm.

The thing that irritated me most were the “elite” ticket pass holders (people who pay big bucks to streamline security). One by one they approached their “exclusive” line and inquired about the delay. Without fail all of them bitterly complained about the situation. One shouted angrily at a TSA official saying: “YOU NEED TO GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!!” In some ways, I understand their frustration and that they paid a lot of money for this not to happen, but for them to expect special treatment when approximately 25 pilots and stewardesses were also waiting nearby is just ridiculous to me. If the pilots aren’t even allowed into the terminal than it should be clear that no one will be let in—no matter how much you paid to be considered “elite”.

Personally, I appreciate the increased security measures. I’m not exactly sure the reason for evacuating the terminal, but I’m glad they did—even if they didn’t find any danger. Ultimately, my flight was only delayed by 15 minutes (which was made up in the air). So to me, no harm was done.

Well, that is enough for tonight. This post is already getting way too long. Lynette has kindly informed me that my posts have been a little bit wordy recently. I don’t want to put you to sleep, or make you stop checking my blog so I’ll post some more about the trip later and mention some of the small acts of kindness I observed that helped restore my confidence in humanity.

Scott