I’ve wondered, while standing in the airport security check line, what makes them single out a person for a thorough screening. Sometimes, it doesn’t seem to make sense — the harried mom, or the hurried businessperson, or the cute, youngish woman flying alone (that’d be me) gets pulled out of line and searched.
It happened to me on a flight from Newark, NJ to Cincinnati, Ohio. I got pulled out of line and had to wait — feeling nervous and awkward — while the security folks pawed through my bag and went over me with that wand thing. At first, I thought maybe it was because my flight had a layover, but no… I’d been on flights with multiple legs before.
When I’m nervous — and I was nervous, not because I was smuggling anything illegal onto the plane, just because it was out of the expected routine — I start cracking jokes. So I was goofing around with the security folks, asking them to fold my laundry and other silly things.
NOTE: Whatever you do, DO NOT EVER make a joke about a bomb while you’re at the airport. If security hears you, you could be fined or arrested — and you’re certainly not going to make your flight.
The Newark security people were very nice and friendly, and were chatting with me while they worked. When I was all done and approved to go ahead, they showed me a special code on my ticket that told them to pull me out of line for screening: SSSS. That’s it. Four letters at the bottom of the printed ticket means you’re in for a thorough search.
Unfortunately, getting the code on the way out seems to also mean you get the code on the way back. So on my return from Cincinnati, I had to go through the whole thorough search thing again. But this time, I was prepared — because I knew what to look for.
Read more about shoe scanners, disgruntled travelers, and dealing with jet lag.