Right after 9-11, they needed a whole bunch of Sky Marshalls. They recruited from several Federal agencies. Some folks I know got to take a break from their regular duties and be "Sky Marshall for the Month."

I got to transport a prisoner last March. It was fun. It felt strange to be carrying a gun on a plane and through the airports. It was like we were getting away with something, even though on the ground I carry one every place except the shower. It's sort of goofy that I left my knife behind because I wasn't sure whether they'd freak out about it. Turns out we never had to go through a metal detector. We just showed our credentials and they escorted us through in front of everybody else. We looked pretty shaggy, too.

We were sort of sad there weren't any terrorists on any of our planes. Especially on the last leg, we could have made a big impression on the UCLA Women's Tennis Team. Maybe if we were more evolved we wouldn't have felt that way.

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