You never know when a couple of those things are about to explode.

I can feel her pain. I have a minor traffic issue that may have to be resolved at the Multnomah County Courthouse and I'm trying to do it all by mail, etc., so I don't have to basically disrobe going through the metal detector there. Something I'm wearing, including a knee brace, always causes the thing to go off.

When my credit union (Pacific NW) moved its closest office to the BPA building, which also requires going through a metal detector, I took all my business to Washington Mutual.

When I was in high school, I worked at The Oregonian (sports department) and I could come and go any time of day or night with just a nod to the guy at the door in the garage. I could go to any floor and walk into any editor's office. Now you have to wait in the lobby and get clearance, or be escorted up.

We probably had as many nut jobs back then as now, but we've become such a risk-averse culture that we insist on this fake security. It's fake, because the real terrorists or crazed gunmen will outsmart the system and get in anyway.

I think closed off public buildings and metal detectors are just a way to separate the people in power from the rest of us.

******We probably had as many nut jobs back then as now, ******

Yeah but back then most of them weren't armed to the teeth with semi-automatic weapons.

Greg C