So as you might have noticed I am not a fan of Security Theater and am not at all for making people walk through metal detectors at ballparks. My quick takes on that are:
– if the threat is so large why did MLB wait rather than act immediately? This policy was announced last year. Did the bad guys tell MLB they planned to do bad things but wanted to give MLB a few months notice because bad guys are cool like that?
– was there no threat at Spring Training? I wasn’t there but I was told there were not detectors.
– at what point do the bad guys win?
– in my opinion the greater threat at ballparks is alcohol influenced behavior
– and I don’t want to float any made up scenario where something awful happens but I am sure you too can imagine all kinds of scenarios that a metal detector at the gate won’t stop.
Anyway, people seem to be taking the vibe that the metal detector lines “aren’t too bad” in a sort of beaten down way. I have not been through one at a ballpark since Game One of the 2009 World Series. Dan attended the Mets viewing thing at Citi Field on Monday and sent me an email and said I could share.
My wife and I took our two boys to Citi Field (Monday) for the watch party. Our boys … are 22 months and 7 months respectively. I mention this because if you have kids you know how much crap we need to carry with two of their ages.
Anyway, with our backpack, bottle cooler, stroller, kids in hand, and crap in our pockets we made it through the metal detectors relatively quickly. They check the bag, as always, and ask you to remove any metal, shuffle you through, and pass the wand over you if you beep.
They did have another line for those without bags which I would recommend for obvious reasons.
As quickly as it went, though, I would still recommend getting to the games early, at least until their staff has the whole procedure down pat.
So there’s that. And ‘Goon said DC wasn’t too bad. I’m glad that it is moving.
