21 May 2005

So close, yet so far... Thanks to the new security measures at airports these days, a close encounter with Bobby's family sadly did not result in a visit. With an hour layover and a flight that was 15 minutes late arriving into the Twin Cities, a meeting was impractical. Bobby could not get into the gate areas without a boarding pass, so he suggested we meet at a coffee shop near the luggage area. Unfortunately, if I would have exited the secure area between my arrival and departure gates to reach the unsecured baggage claim area, I would have needed to wait in line at the security check point, where they scan your carry on bags and make you walk through a metal detector. Not knowing how long the lines would be, I didn't want to risk missing my connecting flight to Manchester.

Four years ago, Bobby and family could have met me right at the gate and we could have had a short visit of perhaps 20-30 minutes over a nice cup of coffee at Starbucks or Caribou Coffee, or perhaps a root beer float at the A&W. How times have changed...

DWL