I stroll out of my apartment and look down at my watch --- 5:10pm. Right on schedule. I've left myself plenty of time to make my way out to JFK for my 7:05pm flight to sunny Los Angeles. I walk down to the corner of 1st and 1st, you know, the nexus of the universe, and hail a cab.
I hop in, fall asleep somewhere in the midtown tunnel, and before you know it 45 minutes have passed and I'm pulling into the departures area. I pull out my money clip and peel off 55 bucks to hand to the cab driver. I grab my bags and wheel into the terminal. A quick glance shows 5:55pm... yup, still on schedule.
I walk up to grab my boarding pass, reach into my pocket, and... oh crap. I pull out my money clip, my keys, my ipod shuffle, and my Blackberry. I seem to be missing something. I forgot to take my wallet. Great job, me. In a panic, I look down at my watch... 6:08pm. Damn it. A cab ride back to Manhattan and back would be at least an hour and 30 minutes, not to mention an additional $110 in cab fare. I really f-ed this up.
Defeated, I walk up to the counter and ask if there are any later flights to Los Angeles. The guy at the gate says, no this is the last flight to Los Angeles, but I'm here in plenty of time. I explain that I forgot to bring my wallet, and thus have no ID.
"No driver's license?" Nope. "No passport?" Nope. "Nothing?" No. "Oh, well you can still go on the plane." Um... what? "I said, let me print your boarding pass, you can still get on." Did he not hear me? I said I had no ID. "No, I know. They'll just do some extra security measures. Have a great flight!"
Puzzled, I grab my pass and look down at my watch -- 6:18pm, if this doesn't work, I'm defintely not getting into LA tonight. I walk up to the first security guard at the front of the zig zagging ropes leading to the X-ray machines. I hand her my boarding pass. "ID please?" Um, I don't have it. I forgot my wallet but the guy at the ticket counter said you'd be able to do some sort of extra security measures? "No, I don't think we do that." Well, that's what the ticket guy said. "He did? Well, ok. go ahead, you can try it up there." She points me down the line towards the X-ray machine and let's me through. Success at checkpoint #1.
I make my way up to the second set of guards and hand him my boarding pass. "ID please?" I actually don't have ID, I forgot it at home. "You have no driver's license or passport at all?" No, they said I could still get on with extra security measures? "Um... yup. Sure." The security guard turns and grabs a marker and draws two long lines on my boarding pass before handing it back to me. "Ok, you're all set."
I looked across at the metal detector and X-ray machine. Was I just supposed to put my stuff in there like any normal ID carrying citizen? I guess so. I throw my stuff onto the conveyor belt and wait for the guard to wave me through. He does, and I walk through the metal detector. No problem. He looks at my boarding pass, and waves me into a side area. Uh oh. Here it comes. The extra security measures in full force.
A male guard waves me into a small roped off area. He lightly frisks me, and then asks me to point out which stuff was mine on the conveyor belt next to us. I point it out. Another guard grabs it and swabs everything for explosives. No searches through any of my stuff. Just some cotton swabbing on the outside of my bags. No bomb residue detected. Hooray. They then take my boarding pass, stamp it with today's date, and then hand it back to me. "Ok, sir. You're all set."
I look down at my watch -- 6:25pm. Did I really just do this? I just walked through airport security with no ID. None whatsoever. I'm not sure if this made me happy that I got through so easily, or just a bit nervous about the whole situation. In all honesty, a little bit of both.
One more glance and it's 6:35pm. Time to board. I realize I'm just happy to be on the plane, regardless of the circumstances. LA, here I come!
