Airport security regulations

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By now most people who travel have been through the new aiport security measures. They have hired new screeners to watch the x-ray machines or to search through your luggage. They actually make you take your shoes off and x-ray them too! That means that you get to stand there barefoot (in FL we mostly wear flip flops) on the carpet that millions of other people have stood barefoot (yuck! It makes you want to scrub your feet, and I am not usually so squeamish). Then they made these things called puffers. They still use the walk through metal detectors, but they added these new devices to use also. They pick out some "lucky" traveler and escort you over to the puffer. They explain that you are going to stand in this glass and metal box and it is going to shoot puffs of air at you. Then it is going to analyze the air for anything unusual (bomb stuff). The guy who picked me was at least kind enough to suggest that I may want to hold my shirt so it doesn't blow it up (think business women in skirts, nice). I go into the machine and wait for the puffs. They aren't so bad, even though I heard some girl in it before me squealing. Then I stand there while it analyzes me. I am standing there for like an eternity. Then I start to think, oh my god, maybe it smelled something on me and it thinks I have a bomb or something. I start to freak out a little and then a little more, and then it finally opens! The nice old man escorts me back to my spot in the line. He asks me if the girls in line are my friends. I told him they were. He asked if they were laughing at me. I told him they were. He told me he would put one of them in the puffer then too. I thought that was great. The other new regulation for a while was the restriction on what you were allowed to take in your carry-on. They made it so you can't bring liquids. That means make up, perfume, etc, many of the things women carry in their purse. My friends and I weren't sure if we were going to be allowed to bring our chapstick. We are a little freakish about chapstick. I can't live without it. I have the bad habit of licking my lips and so I need chapstick. My friends and I decided that it would be better to pack it in our luggage and live without it for an hour, than to have to throw it away before boarding the plane. After checking our chapstick, we realized that our 1 hour flight had still 1 hour before boarding, not to mention however long it took to retrieve our luggage. We freaked out a bit. I never realized just how much I depended on my chapstick until I was forced to be without it. We went to the Chilis to use up the time until our flight. We had a drink to help alleviate the chapstick need, but it was still on our minds. At least we could laugh at ourselves, since we all had the same neurotic problem. We managed to make it through the flight and arrived at the baggage claim on the other side. All we could think about was chapstick. We were like addicts waiting for a fix. We elbowed our way in after our bags, walked a few steps away and retrieved our chapsticks. Pure ecstasy! Too bad we found out later that they no longer made you leave your chapstick. At least we were able to carry it on the flight back!