Your airport security at work.

In March I rode my bike from DC to Jacksonville, FL to load onto a friend's truck for transport to Phoenix. I usually carry a sidearm when I ride and always on long trips. I had bought a one-way flight on United for around $79 back to Dulles and brought my factory case and lock with me for checking the gun. As usual, the ticket counter folks were pretty fast about it, didn't ask to see the gun and just had me sign the tag stating that I had checked it, locked it up and put it back in my bag to be checked.

On the plane I had an aisle seat in the very last row. As we were just about to land, a flight attendant, sitting in her jump seat, tapped me on the shoulder and said the captain would like to speak with me before I deplane. I asked if I was in trouble and she shook her head. I had a long wait before I was able to start walking toward the front of the plane. As I approached the cockpit another flight attendant stopped her conversation with someone else, looked at me and asked that I go see the captain. I said I was going to do just that. Geeze, she knew who I was from way up front and had been watching me approach from her peripheral vision.

Finally, I got to the cockpit, walked in and introduced myself. The captain said, "Are you a 'lee-oh'?" I thought for a second and replied (in all seriousness), "No, I'm a Taurus." Then I realized he meant "LEO" and so I said, "Oh, you mean law enforcement. No, I'm not a cop. Why?" He said he had me on a list of having brought a firearm aboard. I said, "Yeah, but I checked it with my luggage." He replied that he didn't have that info. Without thinking, I blurted out, "And you're waiting until we've landed to ask me about it?!" He said it was no big deal and figured I might have been the sky marshal. Kidding me? What good would a sky marshal have been in the very last row, had something really happened?

I have a co-worker whose husband is a Secret Sevice agent and she's told me he has to meet with the sky marshal if he carries on a commercial flight. So I guess the sky marshals aren't a total secret and I'd think the captain might want to know who he/she is in case he spots their sidearm printing in their clothing.