Put Your Belt, Shoes, Nail Clippers and Any Questions Into the Bin

A recent study conducted for our friends at the Transportation Security Administration has discovered that there has been a decrease in passengers’ “unquestioning compliance with TSA rules.”

This disquieting news has prompted TSA to launch a $1.3 million advertising campaign intended to convince us that we should once again accept whatever hassles TSA decides to impose upon us without question, let alone objection. These rules are to protect us against terrorists, so we should all be good little passengers and keep our mouths shut.

All of which reminds me of the following:

Walking through the mall one afternoon, a fellow ran into a pal who was wearing a huge ivory amulet on a braded cord around his neck. Curious, he asked about the unusual object.

“I paid $1000 for this,” the guy said. “It will protect me from being attacked by rogue elephants.”

“But,” protested his friend, “there isn’t a rogue elephant within 10,000 miles of here!”

“A-ha!” said the guy. “See how great it works?”