Today my son Nigel was flying to the east coast and had an ID that said "Not for use as Federal Identification." I had not gotten him a RealID. I had not gotten one for myself either. I was going to get one in 2020, then COVID put it out of my mind.
I was worried he would not be able to board the plane. It turns out it is possible to board a plane without ID. People lose their wallets, passports and other necessary ID and still fly.
My daughter Lisa said it would be Okay. And it was. Nigel's ID scanned and he boarded the plane. Lisa assured me that if he had no ID he would have been questioned, but would still have boarded. She said, "I have the kind of friends who lose their ID. Trust me."
Then I realized that in the fifty years from my first flight to basic training January 31, 1972, to now I have always had whatever was the proper ID. Passport, drivers license, military ID.
It's nice to know if I forget, lose, or otherwise end up without and ID, I can still get home. Nigel and I will be visiting the DMV next week to get RealIDs, just in case.
