A Seattle boy, 9, hopped two Southwest Airlines flights this week.  By himself.  Without a ticket.  That's right, and he made it through airline security to do so.  Twice. 

Semaj Booker's Seattle - Dallas odyssey began on Sunday when he stole a neighbor's car that had been left running and made off for the airport only to be given chase by authorities.  Semaj was apprehended and taken back to his mother after county juvenile officials refused to admit him because of his age.  He later escaped and somehow made his way to Sea-Tac, where he lied his way onto an airplane and again in Phoenix where he changed planes.  Semaj was foiled by a second attempt to change planes in San Antonio, and never made it to his destination of Dallas before airline workers finally were clued in that something was amiss and that his story didn't check out.

As a former frequent flyer previously married to a pilot for a major airline, I can attest to the vagaries of the airport security system, and I have seen the system change radically since 9/11.  Granted, Semaj Booker doesn't sound like the typical 9-year-old, but still this story boggles my mind and I cannot fathom how one smart 9-year old was able to lie his way onto two airplanes, successfully eluding the multiple checks and balances that are present in the system, not once but twice.  I will say, however, that security practices do not seem to be uniform among all domestic airports:  some are known to be "easier" or "harder" than others. 

Which brings me to this somewhat-tongue-in-cheek yet thought-provoking post at The Stranger's Slog.  Isn't it time that TSA quit chasing little fires like whether fluids are in or out of ziploc bags and in what size bottles, and what people's shoes are made of (not to mention the indignity of taking them on and off repeatedly), and wanding every random 100th person whether they fit the "profile" or not, and address what the real threat is?  Until that threat is understood, it will continue to exist.  All this fear-mongering is not helping anyone, and is actually hurting an already-ailing and bloated airline industry.  Take a page out of Israel's Ben Gurion Airport's (long regarded the SAFEST airport in the world) security measures handbook, and use it.