In airport lines everybody, it seems, is an expert.

Maren Christenson, an experienced traveler from Minneapolis, has a question for Transportation Security Administration officials at San Diego International Airport:

What were you thinking?

Seems that, to streamline traffic through the cumbersome security checkpoints, TSA added a single fast lane for expert travelers and families with small children. Christenson, international sales manager for a medical device company, bolted over to the "everyone else" lane because it was shorter. "And there were a lot of really cranky business people in the other one," she said.

They're likely to stay cranky. On Monday, New York-based Verified Identity Pass abruptly shut down operations due to financial problems. The company, which operated at major terminals nationwide, used iris and fingerprint scans to get frequent fliers through security in a flash.

The good news is that savvy fliers during these travel-heavy summer months have another option: a growing number of "expert-traveler" lanes, including one at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The bad news is that everybody, it seems, is an expert.

"Yes, Ma'am," said the smiling and spectacularly patient TSA agent to the woman in front of me in the fast lane recently. "You do need to show photo I.D."

(Boy, oh boy, was I concentrating on not screwing up after that.)

No worries. Our readers are happy to do that.

C.J. Barwin, 50, of Inver Grove Heights, was trying to get to Chicago last Friday, when bad storms canceled her flight. She was placed on stand-by on another flight and was told to get to the gate as fast as possible. "I had my little bag of liquids and gels easily accessible, along with my Netbook," said Barwin, one of many readers who responded to a www.startribune.com query. "I sent everything through the scanner, went through the metal detector, got my bag and one bin -- and then the belt stopped with a call for a bag check."

The culprit? Two full bottles of water in a fellow flier's outer pockets. "The TSA agent asked the man if he was aware of the restrictions on liquids and gels, to which the man replied that, yes, he was, but he didn't know water was included. The TSA agent calmly pointed out that water was, indeed, a liquid."

Gary Gleason, 57, of Minneapolis, went through Chicago Midway's "experienced-traveler" line last week -- behind 20 first-time travelers. He gave them a break because they were kids. What really bugs him, though, are adults who bark into their cell phones, holding up the line as they "suddenly realize they have to remove their shoes and lap tops. Apparently, the only thing they checked at the ticket counter was their brains."

Derek Harley, 29, of Minneapolis, agrees. "Seriously, do a little research before you go to the airport and don't freak out because you didn't know the rules," begged Harley, a Minneapolis trainer at a health care clinic. "Each laptop computer needs to be out of its carrying case." And, while he has your attention, he'd like you to pick up your bin and move to the benches to re-dress yourself, instead of creating "a little traffic jam to get ready right there."

"Learn what is and is not allowed before you get to the airport," suggested Quast, an industrial engineer. (Here's a good place to start: tinyurl.com/c6fp4v.)

"If you are standing in the line waiting, get your bag of liquids ready, your laptop case unzipped, and your shoes untied. I give families with small children a pass because I know traveling with kids is a tough bag," Quast said. "Of course, they shouldn't go through the 'expert' line, but I have more patience with them than I do with those people not traveling with children. But, if all travelers followed a few simple steps, they would make a lot of people a lot happier."