PINS
So, I was warned that pin trading is a big business and a huge pastime at the Olympics. We were warned that people wearing hundreds of pins would cause trouble for the Mag' & Bag, pin sellers would hassle folks in the parking lot, and they'd all bother you with the back story from each pin (an event, friend, stranger met in a bar...). I was, however, unprepared for it to actually impede the operations of the Olympics.

One of many cases in point:

I walked around the venue, making sure all was going well. I was walking through the locker room area, when I noticed that my person standing post outside the Doping Control area wasn't there. I walk down the hall to find him several feet away from his (sensitive and important) post, huddled with a USA team doctor and two US Customs agents (here supporting the Secret Service).

They were all trading 1992 Albertville pins.

The greatest threat to the security and safety of the 2002 games are these damn pins.