I travel quite a bit, or at least I did before COVID shut things down. I have TSA PreCheck to get through airport security just a little faster. A bunch of years ago, I’d been on a mini tour of sorts, with stops in several cities over a couple of weeks before heading home. Nothing unusual for me. I knew how TSA worked and could usually buzz through without a hitch.
At my first airport, leaving home, I was pulled aside for a more thorough check. “Random selection,” they said. Bag search, explosive residue swabs, the whole routine. Nothing turned up, of course, and I was sent on my way.
A few days later, next airport—same thing. Randomly selected again. Weird, but okay, twice could still be coincidence.
Then it happened a third time.
And a fourth.
At that point, the idea that this was “random” didn’t seem very random at all. I asked TSA agents each time why I was being selected. They all insisted it was just luck of the draw. I don’t remember how many legs were in that trip, but I do remember what happened on the last one, finally heading home.
I was stopped yet again.
The agent looked at me for a moment, then chuckled. “Do you mind if I take a peek in your bag?”
He unzipped it slightly and saw it stuffed full of balloons and balloon pumps. His smile grew.
“I bet you’ve been stopped a lot recently. For that, I want to apologize. You should be good to go in a minute—just doing what I have to here.”
“Huh? Why do you know I’ve been searched at every airport? And why are you suddenly okay with me?”
“You look like someone on our watch list,” he said. (Or maybe it was my name. Whatever it was, he referenced the list.) “But you’re not very threatening. I know who you are. I’ve seen you on TV.”
He’d caught some local news segment I’d been in—recognized my face, and the balloons reassured him I was who he thought. We both laughed. He knew of my travels and my massive balloon installations. That was enough to convince him I wasn’t a threat to national security.
Several weeks went by before I had another flight. I wasn’t searched. I’ve never had quite that experience again.