airport security

Last night I had to go to the airport to pick up my daughters, who were flying home alone from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Atlanta. When I got to the airport, I nervously approached the AirTran desk, hoping they would allow me a gate pass so that I could meet my girls at the gate. To me, Hartsfield airport is a nightmare to maneuver, trying to get from the gate to the underground rail system to the baggage claim area, and although I imagine I could have walked the girls through it via our cell phones, I was nervous at the thought of them having to go through that by themselves. When I approached the agent, I explained the situation, gave her the girls' names and flight number, and waited, hoping for a positive response. The agent was cordial and asked for my identification, at which point I start rifling through my wallet looking for my drivers license. After two unsuccessful passes through the entire contents of my purse, I realized that, to my horror, I had left my drivers license at home, in the back pocket of my other jeans, having used it during my late-night flight the night before. The agent asked if I had any other form of photo identification. "No", I said. "How about a Sams card?" I was stunned. "A Sams card?" "Yeah, you know...Sams..." I told her, no, but I do have a Costco card (which doesn't have an actual photograph, but one of those black and white line-scan photos on the back). She took the card over to another agent, I guess to see if they take Costco as well as Sams. (ha!) About that time, I remembered that I *did* have my Lockheed badge with me, which also has a photo on it (a colored line-scan photo, not an actual photo). I called her back over and showed her my badge, eagerly hoping that the combination of the two would convince her of my true identity, and thankfully she handed me a gate pass. She warned me that I might not be so lucky getting through airport security, and to come back and see her if they wouldn't let me through. When I got to the front of the security line, I flashed my gate pass and my Lockheed badge, and without even looking at the photo, the security guard happily sent me right on through. Fortunately I made it to the gate with time to spare, but I still find it funny that with all the talk of airport security, and all the hoops we have to jump through (like taking off our shoes), that a Sams card would be sufficient identification to get me on a plane.