Code Orange!

Yesterday my friend, Chris flew out of the Charlotte airport for a two-week stay with a mutual friend, Beth. Chris asked me to drive him out to the airport and I did. Since the 'threat level' was so high we understood that there would be a security checkpoint before you could drive up to the airport. I was looking forward to driving him there because I was curious to see what it would be like.

As we drove up to the airport entrance there were orange construction barrels all over the place that funnelled vehicles into three lanes and each lane had a security guard. So far all the security measures were able to do was cause a useless bottleneck that enabled me to accidently cut off a minivan. Luckily they didn't get pissed and just kinda waved at me and smiled, "go ahead, you non-driving fuck." I'm still not completely comfortable driving my new car. I feel like a new driver still after taking 1 1/2 years off from it.

When we pulled up to the security checkpoint a guy was standing there looking in the window of each vehicle as it passed. For some reason he made me pop my trunk. He walked around to the back of my car and peered inside. He then shut the turnk and told me to go on ahead.

I don't know how much safer these cursory precautions make the airport. From what I could tell a van loaded with explosives could have ran that check point and blowed up the terminal before mr. security guard could have said stop but I guess as long as the impression of security is visible we will all be a little less on edge.