I doubt I am the only one who remembers family vacations where everyone piled into the family car and proceeded to travel to destinations near and far.
Mom would spend hours prepping for the trip, packing and cooking. Yes, that’s right, cooking. With a family of six, eating out was not a luxury we could afford daily. So cold fried chicken, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a jug of iced tea were staples when traveling.
I can remember going to amusement parks and, when it came time to eat, the family gathered and went back to the car to have a makeshift picnic. There was no food, snacks or drinks purchased inside the park. If we were thirsty, we drank from the water fountain and the only snacks were the ones dad snuck into the park.
How times have changed. The clear bag policy at events attracting large crowds of people may have been enacted for safety reasons, but I am sure an offshoot of the policy has been increased concession profits. It has become more challenging to sneak drinks into your favorite stadium or entertainment venue.
I am here to tell you there is one place you are not going to sneak any drinks into: the airport. The men and women of TSA are drink-seeking machines. It is bad enough that the crowds and lines at TSA give me anxiety, then you have the agents staring you down like you are on the FBI’s top ten list.
So, you can only imagine my anxiety when the agents pulled my carry-on bag for inspection. My mind was going crazy. Had I left bullets or a gun in my bag from my last trip to the range?
That can’t be, I packed my running gear just as I have done twenty prior times. Could it be just a random check?
The agent began the search of my bag, and it didn’t take long before he found the offending item. A 20-ounce unopened bottle of zero sugar orange flavor Gatorade. The agent looked at me with a pleasurable destain and stated “no bottled drinks allowed” as he tossed my drink aside. He didn’t even give me the chance to chug down my favorite hydrating fluid.
After repacking my bag, I proceeded into the terminal where I instantly became thirsty. I proceeded to the snack bar in search of a beverage.
This is where I discovered the true meaning of highway robbery. Four dollars for a 20-ounce bottle of water, which was the cheapest option available. Just feet outside the airport, the same bottle of water cost a dollar.
I thought price gouging was against the law. You hear about the issue after every natural disaster. I know the State Legislature was busy taking up such immediate concerns as citizens wearing masks in public, but if they really want to do the “peoples work” as they say, take up the issue of the daily insane price gouging of their constituents by big business.
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