Independence Day

Starting this entry out with some French, mainly because U.S. independence owes the French a lot.
Honit soit qui mal y pense for those who look for a double entrendre regarding the day of the flight, 4th of July.

We arrive at the airport, stack the cats and the luggage on a cart, meander through the ribbon labyrinth to the counter, show the papers, passports, get boarding passes.

All of this has great entertainment value for the small children of other passengers. These children have the best cat radar ever. They pick up the presence of cats like a good medium picks up the presence of a ghost.

Suffice it to say that the cats are absolutely quiet, overwhelmed by the noise and the frightening surroundings. But the kids dig them, they have fun pointing out the cats to their parents.

The next stop for the pets is customs, Homeland Security. Right at the edge of the concourse of the international terminal, we are met by a young man who explains that he needs to inspect the pet taxis. We ask where we should follow him. He says, he has to do it right there.

"Is there a room, we cannot open the pet taxis here."

Sorry, no room, is the answer. We set the pet taxis on the pretty marble floor. "These cats were feral, if one escapes, we will never get it back", I explain.
We kneel, I open the first pet taxi, I talk to the cats, hold them back.

He says, looking at the pets :"There are cameras up there. If I don't do anything, I'll be fired on the spot."

"Okay." I pull one of the cats as far out as I can, he pats down the old towel that serves as the blanket.  Pet taxi number two, with the other, very nervous cats.

I open the door, he puts in one hand, just leaves it there for a few seconds, as far away from the cowering frightened animals has he possibly can.

He pulls out his hand, says "that's fine." None of us has even glanced toward the cameras on the ceiling.

We put the pet taxis back on the cart, thank him, and go to the airline counter, where they take the pets to put them on the plane.

Dear Homeland Security man, we would like to thank you again. We assume you are doing fine. If not, or if this posting several years after the event causes problems for you, please let us know.

After all, Homeland Security owes their personnel a work environment where they can actually do their job.