Separate But Equal

As I've mentioned before, my favorite part of clearing customs and heading on my merry way is all the people waiting on the other side for their loved ones: the men holding flowers and teddy bears, kids with the "we're proud of you / welcome home daddy" kind of signs, the more often than not Latin mothers who are already weeping even though the flight they're waiting for doesn't land for another 20 minutes. Prior to 9/11, these were scenes at the gate; I have very fond memories of being collected at the gate by various people throughout my life. Last night, I got to pick up my sister Hilary at the gate and it was a pleasure to do so.

HOWEVER. Like everyone else, I still had to go through security which is a slight less painful experience when cruising through the employee line. There were a few pilots and flight attendants in line, and we were all waiting patiently. Along comes some guy, who's not a crew member just an airport employee, who took his bin of personal belongings and cut the line! The pilot behind me totally called him out on his rudeness and this guy just didn't care. The employee line is there for us so we don't have to cut in front of passengers, not so we can cut in front of each other. We all have to go through security, we are all equally employees of the airport. So wait your turn!!!