Chris Moss Online

I am waiting for a plane in McAllen, TX to take me back to DFW. The flight is delayed over 6 hours because of the fact that the aircraft is an MD-80. They always break.

When one enters the security line at the McAllen aeropuerta, there are U.S. Border Patrol agents adjacent to the airport security guy who checks your ID and boarding pass. As you approach, they ask you, “Are you a citizen?”.

My answer was of course “yes” and they said nothing else to me and I passed through security without incident.

This brings to mind two questions. I am a racial minority here in McAllen, which I guess makes me an easy case for the Border Patrol. I look like a white American, am slightly annoyed, and answered their question “yes”. If I were Hispanic and said “yes,” I wonder if that would be the end of it, or do Hispanic folks routinely have to produce some form of proof that they are a U.S. citizen?

My other question is, what would have happened if James had been with me? He would have had to answer “no” and then I’m sure they would have wanted to see his passport and visa. Although he usually travels with these, what if he had not? What if he traveled relying on his Texas driver’s license as the rest of us do?

The real downside here is that, with airport security if you can’t identify yourself, you merely can’t fly. If you can’t prove on demand that you are in this country legally, you could be detained by the government.

I thought this was really very clever. The same group responsible for the “Grand Central Freeze” got numerous sets of identical twins, dressed them identically, and had them sit across from each other in a single subway car. The result was a mirror-image. It must have been a bit unsettling to be an unsuspecting passenger who happened along this during the ride home…

Happy Independence Day!

July 4th is a great holiday – not just for what it represents and means, but also for all the fun things that go along with it. Right in the middle of summer, people are relaxed and usually get together for food, fun, fireworks and frivolity.

When I was a kid, we spent our July 4ths on Lake O’ the Pines. We would always procure massive amounts of fireworks from a local stand and spend the evenings shooting them off. I miss those days. I enjoy the big Independence Day extravaganzas in the metroplex like Addison’s Kaboom Town and Frisco Freedom Fest. It’s hard to beat a small town July 4th celebration, though. And it’s really quite something to create your own fireworks show. Sadly, there’s not anywhere nearby where we can safely and legally light our own fireworks. We’ll have to see about changing that.