Caddie's Role:The good thing about international travel since those dark days of 9/11 is that you traverse the world through the extra vigilant hands of each country's security system. I was complacently beginning to believe most systems are water-tight until I arrived in America. It is a comforting thought as you nestle into your seat for your weekly flight as an international porter that you are safe from terrorists and any other lunatics who like the idea of blowing up planes in mid-air.
I arrived in New York's JFK Airport from Dublin to connect to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Wachovia Championship which was staged there last week. A colleague of mine had arrived just before me from England and was waiting to take the same flight. It was a pleasant surprise that he was there to keep me company for the trip. As is often the case these days with air travel our flight was delayed by two hours. When you fly a lot you half expect hitches like two-hour delays and often feel lucky if your flight leaves near its original departure time.
We settled into the terminal seven bar at JFK. Half an hour before our rescheduled departure we made our way to gate two, ready to board our flight. After about 20 minutes of inactivity one of the US Airways staff changed the destination sign from Charlotte to Phoenix. We moved swiftly to ask about the Charlotte flight. Without lifting his head the ground host mumbled it was already taxiing to the runway ,without us. Already 10 hours on the go this was not the best news either of us had heard that day. We remonstrated there was no announcement. They insisted there had been. They said they called our names. We assured them they hadn't.
Meanwhile another employee came over to present the other members of the US Airways staff with a "candy bar". Our flight had gone and there was not another one till the next morning. Why worry? Snickers or M&Ms? A discussion ensued at gate two, now showing destination Phoenix. You didn't call us we politely insisted. We need to be in Charlotte tonight. Reluctantly we were booked on the 19.30 from LaGuardia. A half an hour taxi ride away which under no circumstance were they going to pay for. Caring, concerned or remotely interested was the attitude that the ground staff from this airline clearly did not want to promote.
You have all probably reached a point at some stage of a long trip where you become removed from the situation you are embroiled in and in a bemused state think this is not really happening to you. At 6.10pm on Sunday last, on the Van Wyck Expressway from JFK to LaGuardia, in the back of a New York cab with a speed-crazed Puerto Rican driver at the wheel was when I last had that feeling.
We had told our driver there was a sense of urgency about out trip to La Guardia and what were the chances of doing it in half an hour? Si senor, no problem. The Van Wyck was jammed with day trippers going home. So our driver got off at every exit from JFK and back on again the other side so we had the sense of getting somewhere. He was very aware of the width of his cab, I was not and it caused me much sucking of teeth and covering of eyes, squirming and wriggling, as he negotiated his own space on the claustrophobic roadway.
Jose thought I was moving badly to the hip-shaking music pounding from his radio and seemingly connected to his right foot and accelerator. I smiled nervously at him in the mirror.
What a difference an airport makes. The US Airways staff at LaGuardia were extremely accommodating, especially when they heard of our ordeal at JFK and saw the effect that the high-speed taxi ride had on both of us. I know there are worse things that could happen in life's uncertain path than a couple of airport mishaps. But the biggest concern was that our bags would be waiting for us in South Carolina. They had gone on the original flight that we were supposed to go on.
This is my concern. With all the finger-printing, dousing down, belt inspection and footwear examination at airports these days, it is very worrying to experience the inefficiency of the US security system. Luggage should never be taken on a plane when the passenger could have deliberately avoided boarding the same plane. I could have knowingly not boarded my flight to Charlotte last Sunday and left my bag in the safe care of the airline. If I had some bad intentions, who knows what that bag may have done mid-flight.
What is this time consuming security procedure we have all built into our daily airport ritual? A leaky ceremony or a water-tight procedure that ultimately keeps us alive?
