Travel is such fun! Siiigh. I'm giving away my age but I remember when we used to get dressed up to go on a plane. The terminals were uncrowded, everyone was courteous and it did not feel like a cattle call. But then life moved on and now travel includes the threat of terrorism. Terror in the good old days was a bumpy plane ride and the possible threat of having to use a barf bag.

One never knows what the adventure will be. We left for the airport innocently to head out to Denver. Nearing BWI airport all traffic stopped. From the driver of the bus bringing us from the long term parking we learned there was a vehicle fire at the terminal proper. No problem. We would get out and hoof it. We knew the terminal was just over the hill.

Cresting the hill we saw fire engines blocking the road as well as state police cars but we went ahead figuring we could walk into the terminal anyway. No such luck. The police were clear that we were not coming through and shouted for us to move back. We overheard a couple of men near us saying that if they went over the hill nearby they could make it to the parking garage and into the terminal. One of them threw his luggage over a small wall and started running up the grassy hill. A cop on a bicycle zipped up and ran after him waving his arms and shouting.

Now more and more people were cresting the hill. Hope on their faces, the would be vacationers came and the determined business travelers. More and more of them were expecting to take the inititative so they did not miss their flight. But the police were adamant. They shouted, their faces red at the challenge to their authority. Travelers fled around the sides running like a herd of cats. The police were furious. We retired to a bus to wait it out. Two words came to my mind. "Police riot". The officers were angry and the only way they could stem the tide was with violence which I didn't particularly want to experience. It seemed unlikely but it was clear that the public was having none of their restraint and they were breaking through and around the police lines.

The burned out car appeared on a truck and was taken away. The police retired and a tide of vehicles and people dragging their possessions hit the terminal simultaneously to once again fill the lines at check-in.

The basic policy in Maryland appears to be that when there is a crisis they simply stop everything with no contingency plans. The public is told nothing.

In this age of terror the police obviously had no viable plan for closing off the terminal. They simply expected to be in charge which is a naive assumption in America. They could have remained in charge by simply getting information to the bus drivers that the problem would be cleared in 5 to 10 minutes. And they could have told this to the vanguard aiming to reach the terminal. We would have been satisfied and turned back. But they relied totally on brute authority which did not work. So much for the planning of our authorites years into the age of terror.

For Much More Come Visit Us at www.annierogers.com