One of the most significant changes (supposedly) since 9/11 has been airport security. This so-called security of course extends to trains, buses, and whatever other transportation might be bomb or torpedo-shaped. But most important are our planes, since we've already seen that they can be used as weapons. So one would think that getting a job at an airport and penetrating into its most secure areas should be difficult...
Recently I applied for a clerk job at a small airport in a state that shall remain nameless. I was given an interview within a week of applying. After being offered the job I was made to take a drug-test, be fingerprinted, and write down my life history back to the time I attended middle school. Since school is not necessarily verifiable, my work history could be faked, and fingerprints only exist if for some reason you've bothered to have it done or have been convicted, at this point, almost anyone without a criminal record could have gotten the job.
Ok, so it's not too hard to get a job at an airport, but they must make it hard to get in and out every day right? On my first day of work I showed up without any forms of ID. I was an hour earlier than any of the secretarial staff but a mechanic saw me shivering in a skirt and heels outside one of the side entrances and offered to lead me wherever I wanted to go. He took me through both hangars, in and out of several maintenance offices, and up to my office where I would be working. Nobody looked twice, asked for ID, or even asked me more than my first name. My manager wasn't in yet but the women who would be training me and had never met me before showed me where to clock in and what the codes on the keypads for the hangars were.
At this point I had full access to the entire airport and nobody had yet bothered to check who I was. After a few days of working there I realized that these were the sorts of people who trusted anyone who looked like they belonged. Soon at lunch we were discussing the fact that the door code was the same at airports. I even joked that it was probably the same code the security company sets by default on all their doors and the mechanics laughed and nodded.
A skirt and a smile beats Homeland Security every time. Now that's security.