Forum: Reacting to last terror attack is silliness

A lunatic tries to blow up an airplane, so now my 2-year-old daughter can't sleep on her pillow. If this is how we respond as a nation to terror threats, then maybe the terrorists really are winning.

Allow me to connect the dots. My family and I were in Aruba for the last two weeks. Then, as we started packing for our return flight, news spread across One Happy Island (yes, that is Aruba's official motto - it's on the license plates) that another lunatic had tried to blow up a plane. We were scheduled to fly the next day - not exactly an ideal time to be traveling back to the United States from abroad (let alone from a part of the kingdom of the Netherlands), but we figured it would at least be a safe day to travel.

Anticipating that the Transportation Security Administration might have instituted some new rules overnight, we arrived 4.5 hours early at Queen Beatrix Airport. Some airlines weren't allowing carry-ons; Delta just made us put a red sticker on them. I'm not sure how that was supposed to help, but we did as we were told.

We went through two Aruban X-ray stations and passed one bomb-sniffing dog handled by U.S. TSA agents. Then came an announcement that boarding would start an hour before our scheduled departure, and that all passengers would be frisked and have their carry-ons searched.

Most people were OK with the idea of the frisk and search. But it turned out that One Happy Island didn't have enough security personnel to carry out the searches, so we were frisked by baggage handlers who still wore their fluorescent orange vests.

Our frisker seemed a little dazed. I guess you pick up the basics from watching "Cops" and the like, but he did look embarrassed when he frisked my 4-year-old son. My 2-year-old daughter didn't know how to "assume the position," so our baggage handler just patted her on the head and sent her on her way. With all the searching and frisking, boarding took 2.5 hours.

Onboard, we learned of more new TSA rules for flights to the United States originating abroad. All electronic devices would have to be turned off an hour before landing instead of just on descent. And no one could have a p