Travel and Me
I'm clearly on someone's list.
Whenever I travel out of the country, I always--ALWAYS--get yanked aside for extra screening when I return. What happens is that a red light goes off when the security people scan my boarding pass for re-entry, and I'm escorted over to a special security screening area along with my luggage. Once there, the personnel unpack and examine everything in my bags, then search me with hands, wands, and eyes. Because a Caucasian high school teacher in his 50s with teenaged children is at high risk for being a terrorist.
It's probably because I traveled with a group of exchange students to Germany several years ago. I've heard from more than one source that men who travel with exchanges are considered high risk. I don't know what the hell that kind of reasoning is, but it's the only explanation I can think of--this all started when I went on the exchange.
So when I learned about the Trusted Traveler Program, I investigated. People enrolled in the TTP get their passports marked with special status that allows them to do two things: 1) bypass normal security checks; and 2) get expedited return to the US from abroad. This means you can skip the long security lines at the airport for any flight, domestic or international (and you don't have to remove shoes and belts or remove electronic equipment from its case), and that when you return to the US, you zip through security and customs.
In order to qualify, you have fill out an on-line application, submit to a security background check, and attend a face-to-face interview. There's also a $100 application fee, and they don't refund it if your application fails for any reason. The membership is good for five years.
I decided to try it. I filled out the application and paid the fee. A couple days later got a (rather snarky) email that said I had passed the initial screening, but I had less than 24 hours to schedule an interview. If I didn't comply, I forfeited the fee and would have to start the application process over. This seems horribly draconian to me. I know lots of people who check their email sporadically, and anyone who didn't check every single day could have lost $100. But I checked their on-line schedule, selected a site (near the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit) and a time slot (Thursday at 3:00).
I'm curious about what kind of questions they'll ask. A friend of mine who's gone through it said the interview lasts maybe thirty seconds, so they must not ask much. I just hope this works. It'll take a lot of misery out of travel.
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Whenever I travel out of the country, I always--ALWAYS--get yanked aside for extra screening when I return. What happens is that a red light goes off when the security people scan my boarding pass for re-entry, and I'm escorted over to a special security screening area along with my luggage. Once there, the personnel unpack and examine everything in my bags, then search me with hands, wands, and eyes. Because a Caucasian high school teacher in his 50s with teenaged children is at high risk for being a terrorist.
It's probably because I traveled with a group of exchange students to Germany several years ago. I've heard from more than one source that men who travel with exchanges are considered high risk. I don't know what the hell that kind of reasoning is, but it's the only explanation I can think of--this all started when I went on the exchange.
So when I learned about the Trusted Traveler Program, I investigated. People enrolled in the TTP get their passports marked with special status that allows them to do two things: 1) bypass normal security checks; and 2) get expedited return to the US from abroad. This means you can skip the long security lines at the airport for any flight, domestic or international (and you don't have to remove shoes and belts or remove electronic equipment from its case), and that when you return to the US, you zip through security and customs.
In order to qualify, you have fill out an on-line application, submit to a security background check, and attend a face-to-face interview. There's also a $100 application fee, and they don't refund it if your application fails for any reason. The membership is good for five years.
I decided to try it. I filled out the application and paid the fee. A couple days later got a (rather snarky) email that said I had passed the initial screening, but I had less than 24 hours to schedule an interview. If I didn't comply, I forfeited the fee and would have to start the application process over. This seems horribly draconian to me. I know lots of people who check their email sporadically, and anyone who didn't check every single day could have lost $100. But I checked their on-line schedule, selected a site (near the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit) and a time slot (Thursday at 3:00).
I'm curious about what kind of questions they'll ask. A friend of mine who's gone through it said the interview lasts maybe thirty seconds, so they must not ask much. I just hope this works. It'll take a lot of misery out of travel.
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