Thoughts from SFO

(David Post)

I noticed, as I was waiting in line at the security checkpoint at the San Francisco airport waiting to board a flight back east, that there was a "Priority Line" for "uniformed crewmembers" and "First and Business Class customers."  Excuse me, but what the f*** is up with that?  I have no problem with the idea that people with greater resources can purchases conveniences in the marketplace (like a First or Business Class ticket).  But the airport security checkpoint is a government service manned by government employees.  Though we all recognize that people with greater resources sometimes/often get higher and better service from the government – the police patrols in the rich part of town tend to be better than those in the poor part of town.  But we regard this as a flaw in the system, not something to be actively promoted.  Government services should be distributed equally to all – it's an aspirational principle perhaps often honored only in the breach, but to see it so crassly ignored strikes me as an outrage.