In the wake of 9/11, the once “simple things in life” required not much thought at

all now they have been transformed into complicated procedures only brought about
in a time of war. Traveling by air has been a very rewarding experience for most
but courtesy of terrorism, it has mutated into a list of banned items, random
luggage searches, and armed soldiers ominously toting M-16 rifles.

One must wonder if airport security, with the addition of machines that scan shoes
for bombs and random luggage searches, has gone too far. It is not necessary to
check the orthopedic shoes of an eighty-year old woman whereas it might be
extremely important to check every orifice of a young, Muslim male. For fear of
being sued for racial profiling, many airports have decided to treat everyone as
equals. This method may be great when choosing applicants to fill a position of
employment, but when used at an airport to decide who may pose a potential threat
to the safety of others another method should be employed. While it is wrong to
blatantly call a man dressed in traditional Eastern garb complete with turban a
terrorist, it’s just as politically incorrect to treat everyone as such.

In Europe a trusted traveler’s card is used to determine who to search and who to
disregard. With its origins traced as far back as 1999 in Afghanistan.