General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Come 2018, driver licenses from nine states wont be accepted as IDs at the airport [View all]PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,856 posts)Because it IS just bullshit, just as every other "security" nonsense since September 11, 2001, is pure theater.
I'm speaking as a former airline employee who started working at a major east coast airport several years before any security whatsoever. The reason the first security screenings were implemented were to stop the almost weekly skyjackings that were occurring by the early 1970's. And it worked. Skyjackings stopped.
Then 9/11 occurred, and we got all this absolute nonsense about not being able to bring knitting needles or embroidery scissors or nail clippers on board. Nail clippers? Really?
So then, in their infinite idiocy, our Congress (or whoever) decided we need some sort of bullet proof drivers' licenses. Sigh.
Here in New Mexico, in the few months since our drivers' licenses conform to the Real ID standards, there have been all sorts of problems. Such as the DMV being unwilling to accept a valid passport as good enough. WTF??? Do they not know what hoops you go through to get a passport?
Luckily for me my DL came up for renewal earlier this year, about a month before the Real ID implementation.
I recently renewed my passport and got the passport card while I was at it. I keep that in my wallet, which means if I need to flee to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean suddenly, I'm good to go.
I tend to be of the opinion that everyone should have a passport, but the financial reality for some people is that the cost of one might be out of their financial means, and I've been much poorer than I am now, and so I get that. Someone who has no interest in international travel, even if a passport is affordable, is different. If that someone were a personal friend of mine, I'd try to convince her to get a passport, mainly because I can't imagine not ever travelling out of the country. That's just me.
What is nice about current passports is that they are good for ten years. I think my first passport was only good for five years.