I've been in Philadelphia for a conference for the last few days. I came back yesterday afternoon. There are a few things to say about it, but for Monday morning I'll limit myself to the current U.S. airport experience, which seems to get worse every time I go.
When I got to the security line in Philadelphia yesterday, as usual I took off my coat and scarf and put them in a plastic tray to put through the machine; and my shoes; and my laptop; and then my small bag; and then I put my carry-on case through. I began to go through the metal detector, and the man sent me back to take my cardigan off and put it through the machine as well. I remarked to the woman putting herself back together next to me that soon we'd be undressing completely - and she said, "If only I believed it made us any safer...". I think this is how most of us feel about it.
When I walked away I realized that I'd forgotten completely to remove the little plastic bag of "liquids and gels" from my case and put them through separately, as I was supposed to (and I had a good number of items in there for a few days away), but no-one called me on it. I see the Moscow subway bombings in the news this morning, and think about riding around on the underground trains in Philadelphia yesterday, and wonder where this is going to go. It seems likely that we'll end up in police states being patted down at every move, but that at the same time we'll end up not a bit safer for it. I had my bags checked twice in Old Philadelphia yesterday morning, once to see Liberty Bell and once to see Independence Hall, oh, and I got called off for a random check at the gate in the airport too, so I was feeling a bit sensitive to it all by the end of the day.
To add to the pleasures of the airport experience, airlines here have recently started charging for checked luggage - a matter of about $25 per bag each way. I've always preferred to check my luggage and got irritated at all of those people bringing mini suitcases onto the plane and taking up all of the overhead locker space; but once the airline starts penalizing me for what I thought was responsible behaviour, then obviously I'm going to buy a carry-on case and behave like everyone else. But here's the thing: on the smaller planes in particular, such as the ones I got to Philadelphia by (it should have been a direct flight, but we had a spring snowstorm in Denver that resulted in the cancellation of my flight, and I was rerouted by Detroit), only two such bags can fit in for every four people, and since all members of the flight crew have their own bags that are in the lockers before the customers even begin boarding, you end up with the people who are allowed to board in the first two waves with their luggage spread down the plane (though they're seated at the front, so that when you land the orderly exiting from the front turns instead into a confused peristalsis); and then the later waves suddenly get stopped and told they have to have their luggage gate-checked, and then there is further hold-up as the harried gate staff are called back in to label it all.
When I got to the security line in Philadelphia yesterday, as usual I took off my coat and scarf and put them in a plastic tray to put through the machine; and my shoes; and my laptop; and then my small bag; and then I put my carry-on case through. I began to go through the metal detector, and the man sent me back to take my cardigan off and put it through the machine as well. I remarked to the woman putting herself back together next to me that soon we'd be undressing completely - and she said, "If only I believed it made us any safer...". I think this is how most of us feel about it.
When I walked away I realized that I'd forgotten completely to remove the little plastic bag of "liquids and gels" from my case and put them through separately, as I was supposed to (and I had a good number of items in there for a few days away), but no-one called me on it. I see the Moscow subway bombings in the news this morning, and think about riding around on the underground trains in Philadelphia yesterday, and wonder where this is going to go. It seems likely that we'll end up in police states being patted down at every move, but that at the same time we'll end up not a bit safer for it. I had my bags checked twice in Old Philadelphia yesterday morning, once to see Liberty Bell and once to see Independence Hall, oh, and I got called off for a random check at the gate in the airport too, so I was feeling a bit sensitive to it all by the end of the day.
To add to the pleasures of the airport experience, airlines here have recently started charging for checked luggage - a matter of about $25 per bag each way. I've always preferred to check my luggage and got irritated at all of those people bringing mini suitcases onto the plane and taking up all of the overhead locker space; but once the airline starts penalizing me for what I thought was responsible behaviour, then obviously I'm going to buy a carry-on case and behave like everyone else. But here's the thing: on the smaller planes in particular, such as the ones I got to Philadelphia by (it should have been a direct flight, but we had a spring snowstorm in Denver that resulted in the cancellation of my flight, and I was rerouted by Detroit), only two such bags can fit in for every four people, and since all members of the flight crew have their own bags that are in the lockers before the customers even begin boarding, you end up with the people who are allowed to board in the first two waves with their luggage spread down the plane (though they're seated at the front, so that when you land the orderly exiting from the front turns instead into a confused peristalsis); and then the later waves suddenly get stopped and told they have to have their luggage gate-checked, and then there is further hold-up as the harried gate staff are called back in to label it all.
