In the last 40 years and especially in the last 14 years, we have adopted new ways to stay safe. However, why is it, that we go on vacation or to the city and we abandon these habits; or worse even, that the TSA abandons them??

We get in a taxi and vroom, off we go. Rapido, vite, bystro… hurry! No car seats, no seat belts. It’s okay, though, right?  How often do you hear of a fatal crash involving a taxi-cab in the city where the news says “If only they’d been wearing seat belts…”*

We get on a plane, we get in the long line for security. It’s ok, we allowed plenty of time for our flight, even allowing time for a quick bite to eat and a restroom break before we have to line up to board. However, the TSA Precheck line is nearly empty and they (the TSA agents or Homeland Security officers) direct us – the non TSA Precheck folks – to get in that shorter line. Leave your shoes on. Leave your liquids in the bag. Don’t take your laptop out of the briefcase. Wear your lightweight jacket. And no, you do not have to go through the X-Ray vision machine that renders the passers-through essentially naked. Ok, I’m not really looking to wait longer than necessary in a security check point, but… isn’t there a reason we go through the rigor of removing shoes, limiting our liquid toiletries to 3 ounces or less and walking through that live show – entertainment for TSA’s eyes only – machine?

Maybe, just maybe, some areas of our lives are not as dangerous as we’ve been told; that we are indeed safe on a plane and in a car – at least sometimes. (Oh, that reminds me, next up… no. You can wait – it’s okay but totally over-exaggerated!)

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl

* I did a little bit of research (here is one of the studies) and what I found is that, for a variety of reasons, taxi drivers do crash less often than other drivers, however, the severity of the injuries tend to be worse due to the lack of seat belt use.