I should be in France right now. I really should. I should have taken off from London Stanstead yesterday afternoon and landed in Poitiers an hour or so later. Thanks to terrorism, a somewhat extreme reaction from the security forces and bottled drinks, I'm writing this in London.
And I'm not happy.
Yes, a serious reaction to a serious threat is warranted. But at what point does the reaction actually do the terrorists' work for them. As I tried to cram my camera equipment into my hold baggage and decide what not take, these questions were pretty high in my mind. Not books to distract me from the tedium of the flight. No iPod to ease me through takeoff with great music (I'm a nervous flyer). No basic set of clothes with me in case the bags have lost.
I understand the risk. But if, as we seem to be doing, we make travel so miserable for everyone that all we get to carry on board is a handful of belonging is a clear plastic bag, then we're doing the terrorists' work every time someone gets on a plane. We're allowing them to adversely affect every flight people take. We're letting them win.
Still, I've been spared the flight experience. My passport is out of its plastic bag. Our flights were cancelled. We're not going anywhere. The holiday is delayed, possibly cancelled.
Somehow, we've got this one wrong.
Ugh. I'm so glad I don't tend to travel, and sorry to hear things went like that. My husband was flying home from a business trip around that time, but thankfully within the states, so he at least got to come home. I have to agree with your analysis of the situation. We all are losing so many of our freedoms. Yes I want to be safe, but when it gets to the point where our ability to do normal everyday things is severely restricted, and we have to worry about ordinary things that we do or say because of how it might be perceived if overheard or seen and misunderstood, then we've got real problems.