Thought for Food

Segregation, 21st century style: do you know what a Black Diamond is?

From the WSJ:

In an effort to ease traveler anxiety and maybe even improve airport security, the Transportation Security Administration is rolling out a new setup where fliers are asked to self-segregate into different screening lanes depending on their security prowess. There are lanes for “Expert Travelers,” who know the drill cold; “Casual Travelers,” who run the airport gauntlet infrequently; and people with small children or special needs who move slowly through screening.

They’re coding the lines like ski runs — Black Diamond is, of course, for the savvy voyagers.

That’s fitting because, unless you grew up in a ski town, you’ve gotta have dough-re-mi to have any idea what a “Black Diamond” is. And I assume that correlates with traveling experience.

Of course, some of those non-skiing plebes still manage to zip along faster on the bunny slopes, much to our chagrin:

Some road warriors get angry at the notion of special lanes for different people — when families and people in wheelchairs end up in shorter lanes, for example.

And then there’s the sheep who trundle into our fast-moving Q:

“Not enough travelers know what’s going on, so people just follow the guy in front of them. It’s the herd mentality,” said […] a software company chief executive who has been through the Black Diamond setup.

Oh, I snark because I love. I actually think this is a brilliant idea. But then, I would. I’ve skied a Black Diamond.