DFW Trip: Heading home

I figured I could fit one more BBQ meal in before I went to the airport. SO, on the way to the airport we stopped in Saginaw, TX. From what I can tell it’s only claim to fame are it’s tall silos, and they are tall. The place we’d originally scoped online was closed. I guess they didn’t want to work the day after Thanksgiving. We drove towards the highway a little bit and found this hole in the wall called Mark Dean’s BBQ. I wasn’t expecting much, but wanted some BBQ before leaving. The sauce was good. The brisket was so tender you couldn’t pick it up with a fork. Fried Okra is fried Okra. And you can see some decent green beans in the pic. You can’t really mess up green beans. After our meal we stopped for a quick photo op.

It was time to get on the road and head to the airport. On the way his kids started asking me when I was coming back. I told them an unacceptable answer. I told them I didn’t know. This seemed to piss off both of his children, but his son at least told me goodbye when I got out of the car. His daughter just gave me a dirty look and looked away. She does own the world, and I keep forgetting that.

While in the security line at DFW, an old man was sort of split up from his wife since he forgot to take his shoes off. He graciously told me I could go ahead of him since it was going to take him a moment to get his shoes off. I told him I can wait, that way he and his wife can get moving through together. He said it didn’t matter since we all met up at the same place on the other side. I said “if.” He laughed and said “let’s hope.”

He goes through the security gate and sets it off. He’s pulled to the side and told to check himself for metals. I’m sort of reminded of the trailer for some new George Clooney film at this point. He cleans out his pockets and puts everything in a bowl. I remind him of his wedding ring, and he adds it to the stash. He walks through again and again fails.

They then pull him into a special screening room made of what looks to be bulletproof glass. In there they pat him down and wand him. He checks out and they release him. By this point I’m already standing in line waiting on the bags to come out of the xray machine. The TSA comes up to me and asks me if this [points to a bag] is my bag. I tell them no and point to the old guy and let them know it’s his.

He comes over and they tell him that his bags have unlawful materials in them, and he needs to go through further screening to identify the problem materials and remove them from his belongings. As they dig through his luggage like he’s some sort of terror suspect, I calmly walk away and put on my shoes, and begin my normal airport routine. I found a free charging station, put on Black Flag’s “My War” while charging my iPod, and read the latest edition of Scientific American while waiting on my flight. I was dreading going back to LA, but I was trying not to think about it.