It was with no small amount of trepidation that I approached the first airport security checkpoint. Doubly confirmed by the airline or not, I didn't have a lot of faith that the TSA people would know what to do when faced with someone lacking a photo ID.

I handed the smartly-blazered young woman my boarding pass, Social Security card, and Voter Information Card. She took them and glanced at me with a puzzled expression. "Where's your photo ID?"

"I don't have it any longer. I called, Delta, though, and they told me that I could use these instead. Do you need to check with someone?"

She continued to look puzzled, then called over another screener. "He doesn't have a license." The new woman took the papers and cards, looked them over, and told the first woman "If he has his Social then it's okay." With that she waved me through.

After moving through the queue to the scanners and unpacking my laptop and whatnot for x-raying, the screener at the detector barely looked at my papers before sending me off to redress. And that was that. Two of my traveling companions got more grief for failure to comply with the 3-1-1 liquid rule than I did for not having a photo ID.

I have mixed feelings about this. I am certainly grateful that I wasn't forced to spend another week in NYC while waiting for a replacement driver's license to arrive. On the other hand, if exceptions can be made so easily, why bother with the policy at all? And sad as it is, I wonder if I would have received the same treatment if I was not a bald and middle-aged white guy, but a young, swarthy, and bearded guy wearing a turban?