Arriving to your Flight at the Airport

In this day and age of terrorist attacks, getting to your flight at the airport can be quite daunting. In the old days, one would park out front of the airport and unload their luggage. Then they would either do a curb side check in or walk to the counter and check their luggage. After that, it was off to the gate, stopping to pass through the metal detector, which might beep at you if you forgot your keys in your pocket, or had one of the belt buckles that would register an alert. You would wait patiently in your seat until the boarding announcement, at which time you would walk up, hand your ticket to the attendant and walk to the plane. Once seated, you would get your packet of peanuts and your cold drink. You would be instructed to buckle up for take off. Then you would sit back, relax and enjoy your flight.
That is how it used to be anyway. Now, there are so many worries and security checks you have to go through that it's almost worth driving or taking the bus instead. Everyday it seems that you hear of yet another crazy and intrusive personal search of some sort before being allowed to board the plane.
To make your flight at the airport now, you have to be there a good two or three hours early. That's if you want to be ahead of the line of people that show up at the last minute. Curb side check in is a security nightmare in itself these days, and you can't even park in front of most airports. Once you get inside, it's no better. The metal detector is still in effect, although a lot of airports are employing chemical detection for bombs. There are even rumors of x-ray like stalls that you will have to stand in to see if you have weapons.
Always check with the airlines to see what is on their no fly list. It's not fun to get to the airport for your flight and find out you can't get on with half of your baggage. The last minute is not the time to have to decide what you absolutely must take and what you will leave behind.
Flights at airports are becoming a thing of inspection and security checks, rather than just another way to travel. This makes life a bit confusing for those who are flying for the first time. Just take your time, be patient, and you should be on your flight from your airport with in a few minutes, if not hours. Loss of convenience for a bit of security may scare some, but in the long run, it is something we all have to go through to make sure our lives are kept safe during our flight.