I feel so bad for old people who travel. It's been my observation that older people always seem to be placed in line for additional screening. I think it has to do with their lack of familiarity with the process, but I'm not sure.

It's now a running joke, though, with my colleagues and I to guess whether the elderly person in line will get the extra screening -- and it sure seems like he or she does most of the time.

In fact, whenever I pass through security, I turn around and survey the scene ... and there's always an elderly person getting padded down.

I'm not going to make judgements on whether TSA is wasting their efforts on a segment of the population that is unlikely to be a terrorist, but I was wondering if anyone else has made this observation. Thanks!