9/11 Is A Crutch

May 26, 2008 By CJ
Posted in Life in the Military, Top Posts

You know, I’m getting a little fed up with 9/11 being used as an excuse for idiotic policies and behavior. Not long ago, when I was stationed in the DC area, I took my father in law to the Pentagon with me. I wanted to show him where the plane hit the building and the memorial they had inside. My FIL is a retired Army Sergeant First Class and an outstanding patriot in the true sense of the word. He served his country with honor and allowed me to marry his daughter – the most beautiful woman in the world, by the way! (okay, maybe that counts against him) What does he get for that sacrifice? They wouldn’t let him into the Pentagon!! The reason? 9/11!! Since 9/11, they don’t allow retirees - with military identification by the way - into the Pentagon. Now tell me: what part did an honorably retired SFC play in the 9/11 attacks? I’m sure there are some trolls lurking on the site that probably think he knew all along what was going to happen and didn’t prevent it so he shouldn’t be allowed in the Pentagon, but that’s just crazy talk. Straighten out your tinfoil hat and go here.

Well, I’m back in the DC area for a few days on TDY and again heard the most absurd thing being blamed on 9/11. While on the Charlotte/Baltimore leg of a US Airways flight, I overheard a stewardess flight attendant talking to another passenger. Keep in mind that this passenger most likely paid a few hundred dollars for the square foot of personal space called her seat next to the window. The lady in seat 13F was asking the flight attendant her name. She gave the passenger her first name and the passenger asked for her last name as well. Apparently, something happened before I got on the plane that I was missing.

A few people were upset because they had packed their kitchen sinks in their baggage and all the overhead bins were full. The bags didn’t fit under the seats in front of them and had to be checked under the plane. One guy wasn’t having it. He wouldn’t deplane and wouldn’t allow them to check his bags. Instead he complained that he “didn’t trust these people” with his bags. I contemplated violently shoving his nose into his brain, but thought better about it as I had a mission to complete that didn’t involve a trial. They gave him a choice to deplane or check his bag. He didn’t want to do either. A huge US Airways employee convinced the man to choose one of the two. Needless to say, he didn’t leave the plane. There was a lot of murmuring as people were generally irritated because they should have to the right to carry their kitchen sink with them if they want. Damn anyone else’s right to share the limited space available in the plane for personal items.!!

Anyway, the flight attendant told the lady she couldn’t give her last name. “Why not?” asked the passenger. “We’re just not allowed to give it out since 9/11.” WHAT?!?! Are you freaking kidding me? This reminds me of an issue I recently had with one of my Soldiers. He is having trouble with the military’s payroll deductions to pay his child support through the state of Alabama. I won’t get into details, but the lady at the Alabama child support services (or whatever socialist name it has) was very rude because he “wasn’t paying his child support” when in fact he was but the state was all jacked up.

You see, the military pays its employees either once a month or twice on the first and fifteenth. However, on holidays or when the first and fifteenth fall on a Sunday, paychecks are sent out the preceding Friday. So, if the first falls on a weekend, that Soldier will be paid on the 30th or earlier depending on the holiday. So, May’s child support payment was paid on the 1st since it fell on a Thursday, but June’s payment will go out on May 30th since June 1st falls on a Sunday. Well the state of Alabama doesn’t look at that second payment as June’s payment. They look at it as an extra payment for May since it was in the same month!! So, instead of applying it to his monthly required payment, they apply it to back child support and charge interest for a missed payment. INSANE!! Well, instead of working this through, the Alabama rep is rude and when my Soldier asked for her last name she refused to give it. Don’t worry, I took care of that problem and hopefully that lady is responsible for jobless claims going up last month.

Exactly where is the threat with last names being used on a flight? If it’s such a risk, why do I have to wear a uniform with my last name plastered all over it? When I wear my PC hat, my last name is on that as well. Does that make me a target? Maybe I should get a new nametag made that just says CJ and tell people that I can’t give them my last name because of 9/11. While I’m at it, because of 9/11 I don’t even want them to look at me. I may get scared and think they’re about to plow a plane into my grill!

Rest assured, I’ll be making a phone call to US Airways to inquire about this “policy” they seem to have on their flights. How exactly do I complain when I don’t know the individuals name? I mean, at least have a policy where the flight attendants have alias names so they don’t sound so pathetic about why they can’t give their real last names. They can use that cool Star Wars name generator to come up with unique and personal names!! It’s bad enough that these morons are taking my tax money in the form of subsidies because they can’t manage themselves adequately, charge me $25 for a second bag ($15 for the FIRST bag if you’re on American Airlines), charge me for meals, won’t give me a full can of Diet Coke, and stick me in these claustrophobic seats between the heaviest, smelliest people possible (actually, this flight wasn’t so bad; I got a middle seat and they were decent people). Now they won’t tell me their last names?!