The Indiana Air National Guard held an air show at the 122nd Tactical Fighter Wing base at Fort Wayne International Airport on September 10 and 11, 2016.
Paranoia reached new heights at this year's air show. To get into the show, visitors had to drive downtown, where there is nowhere to park without paying, then line up at Headwaters Park to go through security checks inside the big event tent on the east side of the park.
When my son and I got down there, the line stretched from the park all the way down Clinton Street to Superior Street, then it curved east all the way to Lafayette Street! Inside the tent, they had a 'maze' set up to allow more people to line up inside.
The line was about a mile long in total, and it was barely moving. After passing through security, the people were put on busses and driven the 8 miles or so to the airport, which is on the city's southwestern edge.
On the sidewalks leading to Headwaters Park, signs like the one in this photograph were posted. The sign is an incredible list of "Prohibited Items" that borders on the absurd. The prohibited items included:
- Food, Drinks or Coolers
- Backpacks
- Knives
- Large Umbrellas
- Portable awnings or tents
- Bicycles
- Scooters (except for those used by the disabled)
- Skateboards
- E-Cigarettes
- Laser Pointers
- Ladders or step stools
- Heelys
- UAVs or drones
- Loose ice
- Cans
- Glass
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Weapons of any kind
- Dangerous objects
- Cooking equipment
- Roller blades or inline skates
- Ladders
I understand why some of these items were banned from the air show. Weapons, alcohol, and pets, for example.
Others were absurd. Loose ice? Heelys? Heelys are shoes that are popular with children. They have a built-in rollerskate wheel in the heel. Banning those keeps half the 5th graders in Fort Wayne out of the show! Ladders? Those must be especially dangerous, since they were listed TWICE. Seriously, though; how many people try to bring a ladder to an air show??
In the background of this photograph, you can see the sheep lined up outside the entrance to the Headwaters Park tent. The organizers of this event will claim that 'terrorism' was the reason for the paranoid and idiotic security arrangements.
The fact that anyone would think this necessary in a place like Fort Wayne, and that the people here tolerated it and willingly lined up for it, shows that the 'terrorists' have won. Americans were once free men; now we're a bunch of groveling serfs.
