Hurry up and Wait

After walking around the tidal basin, I was going to the Smithsonian (Museum of Natural History) this morning.  I thought that, being the middle of the week and very early in Spring, that there wouldn't be too much crowd.  This is what greeted me when I got there, a few minutes after opening.

It wasn't too bad, although it certainly would've gone a lot faster without the security checks.  I wonder what those security checks have managed to get, over the last ten years or so since they've been doing them.  Is it actually possible that they're worthwhile?  Compared to the cost of all the people made to wait?

Maybe, but color me skeptical.  Of course, if asked about it, I'm sure they'd say something like, "Even if we haven't caught anything, we're scaring away people who might be tempted to do something terrible."

Uh-huh.