Ben and the Immaculate Conception—Ben Major might never have become a terrorist if he had politely walked away from O’Hare on the morning of May 9, 2003. By error he had been entered into the Computerized Airline Passenger Pre-Screening System as Ben Majir, a name not matching his driver’s license and expired credit card. On that basis he was denied permission to board the PhoenixAir flight to Seattle. Misdirected blows are a fact of life. Accepting them is difficult at the best of times, and this wasn’t the best of times for Ben Major.
—first published by Spoiled Ink in February 2005