Here's a belated story from my Christmas trip. If you've been following along, you know that in December I broke my foot.

So I got to go through the new security at DIA on crutches. Well, on one crutch as I figured it would be easier to get around with a suitcase and a carry on if I only had one crutch.

I was right, it was much easier. But I didn't plan on the security system being cranked up to absurd levels. Stripped of my carry on, my keys, my coins, my crutch, I still set off the metal detector. All I had left were my clothes and my wallet. It turns out there was my emergency car key in my wallet which did the trick, but I'm getting ahead of the story.

So, I've hopped into the box and set off the bleeper. Security converges and gestures imperiously toward the penalty box, a glassed in tunnel for people unlucky enough to bleep. I stand my ground and insist that I will wait until they return my crutch to me. They reluctantly grant that as a reasonable request.

I now pogo my way down the penalty cage which is blocked at the end. I have to wait for the security people understand that I can't get through without one of them moving the blockage for me.

Finally, I've reached the wanding station. I'm still trying to be good natured about things and in fact, except for them being a little slow about the problems of moving about on crutches, it's going pretty well. The guy with the wand briefs me on what he's going to do, then he points at my good leg and says, "Lift that foot."

There's a couple of moments while I stare at him and then roll my eyes toward heaven. I finally tell him that I will need a table or something to lean on, since it is pretty obvious that I can't stand on just the crutch. He laughs and says, "Yeah, I guess that would help." Support is found and the rest of the wanding goes well.

A final thought about the process— after they found that my wallet set off the wand, they took it away from me and sent it through the X-ray machine. So now I'm standing in security with no ID on me. And now that I'm clean, they make me go back through the upright metal detector, with all the attendent dropping off the crutch and hopping through both ways that that entails. Why? Isn't the wand enough? Then I got to wait while the rest of my things were gathered from the X-ray people and I could finally proceed.

All in all, it only took about 5 extra minutes even with all the contretemps about waiting for the crutch, waiting for help with the blockage and waiting for something to lean on when he wanted me to lift my good foot.