Tis the season, as they say. It's the season for giving, the season for eating, the season for traveling. As I made my way to the Charlottesville airport last week to fly home for Thanksgiving, I was curious to see for myself what changes have gone into effect since Sept. 11. Just as I had heard, the airport was very much the same with the exception of fewer travelers and a smaller line of taxis waiting outside the doors to pick up arriving passengers. As I struggled with the weight of my carry-on luggage, filled with enough textbooks to remind me that there is no rest for the weary, I made my way to the first security checkpoint. Then, I saw him.
Standing just beyond the conveyor belt and security personnel was a young National Guardsman in his camouflage uniform. The gun he held by his side reached nearly down to his ankles - it was the biggest gun I had ever seen, excluding those in a few Wesley Snipes movies. As reassuring as his presence was meant to be, it left me feeling somewhat unsettled and strongly reminded me of these new unsettling times. While airports abroad have always had armed guards in their terminals, the United States has never required a uniformed military presence at home. Or at least until a group of terrorists boarded planes with box-cutters. Or until two planes crashed through the World Trade Towers, demolishing monuments to economic dominance. Until one plane dove into the Pentagon, and another went down in Pennsylvania. Today, it seems we need the military at our airport terminals, just like we need a facemask to open our mail safely.
The National Guardsman stood firmly in his place as the passengers made their way to the gate. I watched him curiously, half expecting a terrorist to burst through the window at any moment, prompting the man to raise his gun and save the day in the same manner as Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Terminator II." But the small airport terminal was calm and quiet, with the exception of a few businessmen talking loudly on their cell phones before they would have to "discontinue use of all electronic devices for the remainder of the flight."
As we boarded the plane, leaving behind the National Guardsman and the immediate protection he offered, I wondered if there were any undercover marshals aboard our flight. I knew they flew on certain flights in the event that a terrorist should happen to be on board. I looked at the girl to my left and decided she was better equipped to be a sorority president than an armed marshal. The man sitting to my right was about 150 pounds overweight and slept soundly for the majority of the flight. If he was to protect us in the event of an emergency, we were in real trouble. We would probably have better luck if the flight attendant came to our defense with an extra bag of peanuts.
Because I was seated in an exit row, the flight attendant made sure I was familiar with the exit door and procedures. Normally, I nod and hold up the information card as if to say, "I intend to read this before take-off," and then stick it back into the seat pocket with my Sky-Mall magazine. However, this time, I actually took the time to read it and familiarize myself with the steps I would need to take if we had an emergency landing. Sept. 11 made me believe anything is possible.
As the holidays approach, we cannot help but notice they will have a different feel this year. Some households are missing family members, some still are shaken by the events of that fateful day. During Thanksgiving, I read a column in the Orlando Sentinel, my local newspaper, in which the columnist called for an extra place to be set at all tables this season and left empty as a reminder of the national loss we all have suffered. She had taken the idea from another columnist who proposed the idea in a nationally syndicated newspaper. It made me realize that the grieving and the rebuilding processes are a combination of filling voids with a new presence, such as the National Guardsman, and remembering that some voids cannot be filled, such as that empty place at the dinner table.
This holiday season, we'll learn what to expect and we'll be reminded that the times, they are a-changin'.
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