Security snafu

OXFORD, England -- A pair of tennis shoes, a bottle of milk. Canisters of cologne, shampoo, one festively wrapped bottle of French champagne. The end of the holiday season is a bad time to travel from London by air. The stacks of food, hair spray, sodas, pocket knives and clothing that littered London Heathrow Airport's security line the weekend after New Year's is testament to air traveling's rigors. Airports are desperate to hush complaints about long lines and strict security (which has only recently lightened the ban on lip gloss), in order to get customers on flights, even if that means allowing the tardy customer to skip the punctual flier.\nHeathrow Airport is unique among international airports for its strict enforcement of the "one carry-on only" rule -- no purses, ladies -- and its militantly efficient and detached airport personnel. The Saturday after New Year's Day hundreds of people held their breath and dove into the 400-meter-long airport security line. Most savvy travelers know to schedule weekday red-eye flights to avoid horrendous delays. I learned my lesson.\nHeathrow Airport personnel seem to employ extensive military training, making periodic rounds along the ribboned barriers to rescue dozens of thoughtless travelers who hadn't left the necessary 3 1/2 hours for international flight check-in and security clearance. By a stroke of luck and flight anxiety, I can only attribute to latent psychic powers or Santa Claus, I arrived exactly 210 minutes before my flight departed. Many weren't so intuitive. Travelers whose flights were due to take off within an hour sprinted to the front of the line with a personnel escort. \nResentment toward those escorted to the front of the interminable line was palpable. Fliers who left time to jump through security hoops and make it to the gate on time rolled their eyes, shifted baggage or groaned when a member of Heathrow staff guided another tardy traveler to the front of the line.\nThe politics of security lines favor the aggressive and resourceful as much as it does the well-prepared. The strictness of carry-on regulations varies; London Heathrow is the only one out of the eight airports I have visited in the past year that insists on enforcing the letter of the single carry-on rule. Whoever can cram three bags' worth of packing into a single backpack while shuffling through line is willing to sacrifice what can't be packed, and can stand up to the constant shouting of airport employees who might as well be screaming "Move out, soldiers" will make it to the gate with luggage and sanity intact. \nAs tardy fliers flew to the front of the line, a chorus of grumbles satisfied regular travelers during the post-holiday flying season. Perhaps we stood it because we realized that next week it could be our car that breaks down or alarm that doesn't buzz. I paid my time in line (a little over an hour) and lived to tell a tale common for post-holiday fliers -- I slid into my seat just before the stewardess closed the cabin door. Next time I'll fly in the off-season.