[-41] Bureaucracy, or "Why the TSA Sucks"

So, because of our two-week vacation at the end of June, I'm trying to get everything for my trip squared away now. Has anyone else heard about this new TSA thing where everything on your documents have to match exactly?

Here's why this serves no purpose: People who use their full legal name (which, I imagine, could be way too long for normal use -- I know someone who has four middle names. Can you imagine?!) on legal documents now have to go through the hassle of using their full legal name on airline tickets, cruise tickets, whatever. The thing is, if I have both documents, this is doing nothing except creating more work for me. If, say, a terrorist got ahold of my passport and was going to use it to travel, don't you think they'd just change their airline ticket to match my passport? Sure, a bit of hassle for the terrorist, but they're laying down their lives to send a message to the US, here. I don't think they're going to mind being on hold for an hour or so with the airline to change the name on their airline ticket (although I'm not 100% sure about that, as I'm fairly certain it's a key human trait to hate being on hold). So I don't see this new regulation serving any purpose. It's not as if there would be discrepancies between the two documents and you'd catch anyone that way. Someone in possession of both documents could easily make them match each other.

Here's why, aside from serving no purpose, this is dumb: NJ driver's licences don't ask for your full middle name to begin with (only your middle initial), whereas US passports do. Therefore, my two main methods of identification do not match, and will never match. Which means that, when booking an airline ticket/cruise ticket/whatever, I'm actually going to have to think ahead about what method of identification I'll be using and book accordingly. How ridiculous. And God forbid that I might have to show both IDs at some point.

I'll put up with a lot in the name of homeland security. I never complain about lines at the airport to get through security, and I always follow their little liquids rules. My carefully packed bags getting torn apart because of a music stand in the bottom? Fine. Getting stopped at security because someone thinks my flute is a gun or some sort of weapon? Fine. Changing my name on my airline ticket? Now that's just dumb. Like it's going to hurt anyone that I prefer to use my middle initial rather than my full middle name.

I'm off to call Qantas, then. Here's hoping they won't hang up on me eight times before I finally get put on hold (for two hours).