Newer Generations on Airline Security

          No, I don't have any memory of pre 9/11 airplane travel, racial profiling, or national security. I was still at the age where I thought airplanes dropped people off in front of their houses, and flew away based on magic. The most prevalent thing I have learned from these essays is simple; to me, the racial profiliing, national security, and of course, airline security, is completely normal.
           Let's start with the airlines. I have no real airline exposure from the days before 9/11. I have always needed to leave for the airport multiple hours in advance because everybody knew that security would take a really long time. Apart from the complaints of my parents and other passengers waiting in line, I had no knowledge of "how it used to be." I assumed this long wait was normal, and for me, it always has been. Being young, I could only glean so much from these complaints, but it was enough for me to realize that in the past things had been different. I simply didn't understand the magnitude of change that had occurred.
          For my generation, or at least, for myself, it took years for us to understand the how important an event like 9/11 is, and how powerful it's side effects were. Right now, as I type this post, sitting in my bedroom listening to "Everybody Talks" by Neon Trees, I am a side effect. Sounds weird when I put it that way, but my mentality towards the issues of airline security, national security, and racial profiling has been completely shaped and molded as I have grown up, and this is mainly due to 9/11. I have no problem with inconveniencing the masses to prevent the occasional national security breach. I'm fine with government intrusion, as long as the intent is to keep me safe. I have grown up being told that the protection of national security is more important than my privacy on matters such as library records or baggage on airlines. This stuff is life for me, and I've never known anything else.
          Given that last sentence, I do understand the magnitude of the change now. When I look at how lax we used to be as a people in the past, with airline security and safety measures much lower than nowadays, I shudder in disgust and think about how easy it would be to cause a national security breach...and then I think of 9/11.
          And then I think about what actually needed to happen to our nation to have a child grow up with the mentality that I have currently.
          And that puts 9/11 into perspective for me.