I ride the Washington State Ferries every time I need to go into Seattle, and they've scared the dickens out of me since 911. At rush hour, boats carry up to 1200 passengers, also at Mariners game times. Right after 911, there were guards walking among the cars waiting to board, doing a pretty good job of looking into cars and questioning drivers; but now, things are pretty lax.
Here on my peaceful, pastoral island, I felt very safe until Ahmed Reshad, the would-be LAX bomber, was caught coming in from Canada to Port Angeles. Had he gotten through, he would have driven within a few hundred yards of my door on his way to the ferry into Seattle, where he had a motel reservation. He would have been on ferry I take, and the explosives in his car were so badly packed, they could have exploded if he hit a bad bump in the road, or perhaps on the ferry. Nevertheless, the idiot liberal leftists who populate this place are quite sure it can't happen here. Maybe they'll wake up now. Maybe. Or it may take a loud bang to open their eyes to the facts that no one is safe anywhere.
Soon after 911, while waiting in ferry line in Seattle to board boat back to my island, I noticed two big strong "swarthy" fellows walking around the cars. I got out of mine and approached them, started a conversation just to see what they were about. They were fine, had a little girl with them who was afraid of my barking dog and clung to her loving dad. The men were from India. And the guards were going through their van as we spoke. I hope the guards remain vigilant. It's awful to have to suspect everyone, but better safe than sorry.