Airports Are Using Circus Clowns, Miniature Ponies And Musicians To Help Ease TSA Wait Time

Airports across the country have certainly turned into a three-ring circus lately due to extremely long wait times at the hands of the Transportation Security Administration. Some airports are now using clowns, miniature ponies and live music to help distract travelers from the insanely lengthy wait times. Let's see, allowing people to walk around airports hiding their identities beneath face paint doesn't seem like a potential security risk to me at all.

It's not completely the TSA's fault however. It's also due to increased numbers in travelers, and a decreased number in airport employees due to cutbacks.

Airport spokesman Jonathan Heller tells nbsnews.com -

They (clowns) are creating content inspired by the traveler experience, so they will constantly be visible, trying out new ideas and interacting with passengers. We certainly think they will be at the checkpoints often, as people waiting in line are a great audience for them!

The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is going a different route, using lil therapy ponies to walk around to keep people calm.

In Atlanta, musicians will perform in the areas before security check-points, and they'll be adding more staff members to answer travelers' questions. They're also handing out bottled water and candy to folks who are dealing with all of the extra wait times.

You can read much more on this story over at nbcnews.com.

I appreciate the extra effort airports are putting into trying to make this mess more tolerable for customers, I truly do. However, it seems to me that all the time being used to come up with ways to distract passengers from a bad experience would be better spent trying to fix the reasons why the waits are so horrible in the first place.