Monday December 19, 2016 - TSA worked out surprisingly well.

Yesterday I completed a roundtrip flight to Branson MO. It was so cold. I grew up in NJ and now I remember why I am in Atlanta. When I walked off that plane the wind (my Dad use to call it "The Hawk") cut thru my clothes like I was naked. I was so worried about TSA, I did not dress properly.

Anyway, I dropped my rental car off early (7:30 am) and took the free tram to the airport. Even at 7:50 am on Sunday, it was busy.

As I waited in line, which moved pretty fast, I noticed a bomb sniffing dog walking past everyone. You ended up walking past the dog twice, once on each side of you. Its been a long time since I have flown (I think August 2015), but I do not remember dogs.

I got to the check-in and said hello to the TSA lady while reading here name off the name tag. She smiled and said hello back. I walked to the scanning area and looked for those silver plastic tubs. There were staked beyond everyone's reach and we were told to put our luggage and/or coat on the conveyor belt.  I noticed that everyone was going through the old metal detector and not the body scanning machine.

Atlanta airport is the business airport in the world and this one scanning area has over 20 lines. None of them were using the body scanner. One reason I stopped flying is that I do not trust a machine that can see through your clothes and check your body. I do not know what type of rays they are using.

My Dad was a dentist for 50 years. He and many of his classmates died on cancer. They believe it was from those old X-ray machines. If you remember those days, the dentist put a heavy blanket on you before x-rays were taken. Then the dentist stood behind a "protected" wall. Back then, the companies said the machine was safe. Yeah, right!

So, I do not trust the body scanning machine.

Once I put my coat with all my stuff in the pockets, on the conveyor, I noticed no one was taking off their shoes or removing their belts (I did not wear one, just in case). The guy asked me to walk thru the metal detector and I was through and on my way with minutes. What a relief.

But this process was different and more like the pre-9/11 screening. Except for the dog, I wonder why the change back to the old way? It is temporary or permanent?

On the way back to Atlanta, TSA in Springfield was the same way.  As a matter of fact the traveler who followed me through the metal detector, mentioned that he was surprised that he did not have to take off his shoes. I told the TSA guy that I had worn my good socks, just in case. I listened to my Mom about having clean socks, just in case.

Other than laughing, he did not respond.

Overall the day went well, except for me not being prepared for the cold weather. But I was ready for any problems brought on by the body scanner.