At the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, I noticed something I hadn't seen at airports before: a separate security check line for first-class and premium passengers. (Although now that I think about it, there was probably one at SFO as well.) As we stood in the obviously slower and longer line, I turned to Izzy and said -- in a voice loud enough for whoever was listening to hear, hoping to gain a sympathetic ear -- "This seems kind of unfair, Izzy."
The woman in front of me wheels around and says, "Of course it's fair. All you have to do is pay double the fare."
Surprised at her reaction, I said, "But it's one thing for a private company to do that. But this is a government procedure, so it doesn't seem very fair to make us wait longer..."
"It's fair because they paid twice the price," she answered. "If you want to go in the quick line, you simply pay more."
"But it seems to discriminate against people who can't afford to pay the higher price." My voice started trailing off, realizing this wasn't working, and that the "D" word -- "discriminate" -- probably made me sound like, you know, one of those angry "people of color."
"Oh my god," she said, rolling her eyes and turning away.
Of course, she was right in the sense that if people are foolish -- okay, wealthy -- enough to afford the first-class tickets, then they should be welcome to do so. But I don't think this was what she was arguing. Part of what rankled me was her easy defense of the "natural," capitalist order of things, but that shouldn't have been a surprise.
Having separate lines was certainly understandable in the context of a private company, but this was not the case. What was perhaps most annoying was the fact that the intrusion of the public into the private, and vice versa, was so unquestioned -- nothing new at all, but simply one more instance of such encroachment. First-class passengers already have separate check-in counters, a departure lounge, cushier seats, what-have-you -- what's one more perk, one supposes the airport officials thought, to reward the rich for a job well done?
Whatever one's opinion regarding the shifting palette of homeland security threats -- and you irregular readers of this blog would know mine -- the fact remains that the war on terror, and its grave consequences, already affects Americans unequally. Surely its attendant inconveniences demand to be applied at least a little democratically as well.
Posted by the wily filipino at February 5, 2007 07:56 PMYou've been living away from the Philippines too long. The "capitalist order of things" is the way it always has been, made even worse now when the status quo is enforced by ambient agents, like security guards who always yield to the guy with the bigger SUV.
Airport lines? Try our expressways, where you can buy convenience with an E-Pass. Its the same toll, but you need a credit card to have one. Vegetable vendors plying the North Luzon Tollway everyday don't have credit cards.
Posted by: Happy on February 5, 2007 11:43 PMpinko.
Posted by: Jesse! on February 6, 2007 09:43 AMAt least obtaining Fastrak is free with registering a credit card. Sure makes paying tolls on the bridges much easier.
As for airport security, comedian George Carlin said that airport security is just an illusion to make you feel "safe." Do you really think its secure when they put folks on minimum wage to do the screening?
Posted by: Akit on February 13, 2007 04:35 PMHappy: But isn't PNCC semi-private anyway? But yes, the Philippines is quite different...
Posted by: the wily filipino on February 16, 2007 08:55 AM