I hate terrorists!
This morning, I arrive in my office, and I see an e-mail from my good friend Tania (Kiwi, currently living in London). And I quote:
"...have you not seen the news today - I ain't flying nowhere near America!"
(OK, let's disregard her interesting use of grammar, which candidly is not indicative of her writing skills at all. She is quite the talented communications guru. )
I open a web browser and click on my "CNN.com" favorite link. (Yes, this blog is riddled with wrong things, CNN for news? Yes, I have given in to its allure and ease. Thanks Ted Turner!)
All of the headlines scream "Terrorism Alert!", "Terrorism Plot Foiled in London!" I spend the next thirty minutes reading articles and checking out videos to see what happened.
You see, I had a business flight yesterday from Houston to Los Angeles. The news of the "Code Orange" airport alert had me livid. You see, I already hate going to airports, due to the ridiculous amount of time I have spent in them over the past eight years. Longer lines and the restriction on "all liquids and gels of any kind in carry-on baggage" really had me frustrated.
When I arrived at the airport parking garage, I took out my bags to remove all of my liquids and gels. Little did I know there was so much stuff that I needed to remove -- nine items!
Just to add fuel to the fire, once I went to the airport screening, they found MORE items that were not allowed, including Carmex, contact solution, a small vial of cologne, and an inhaler. I only knew of the saline in there. The inspector took all of my items and was going to throw them in the amnesty bin. I just stared at him with a look of disbelief, "That is my inhaler! I have asthma!" (*note, my asthma is not that bad, but those things are expensive) I repeated myself over and over until I finally got a supervisor to come over and approve me taking it through. Ridiculous.
The thing I find most-humorous about this whole experience is that once I went through the line, I noticed I had fountain pens and more contacts. Seriously, if terrorists want to get things on planes, they will find a way. But it does set my mind at ease to know that no one will splash their lotion, hair gel, or shampoo on me while in flight. Whew!
"...have you not seen the news today - I ain't flying nowhere near America!"
(OK, let's disregard her interesting use of grammar, which candidly is not indicative of her writing skills at all. She is quite the talented communications guru. )
I open a web browser and click on my "CNN.com" favorite link. (Yes, this blog is riddled with wrong things, CNN for news? Yes, I have given in to its allure and ease. Thanks Ted Turner!)
All of the headlines scream "Terrorism Alert!", "Terrorism Plot Foiled in London!" I spend the next thirty minutes reading articles and checking out videos to see what happened.
You see, I had a business flight yesterday from Houston to Los Angeles. The news of the "Code Orange" airport alert had me livid. You see, I already hate going to airports, due to the ridiculous amount of time I have spent in them over the past eight years. Longer lines and the restriction on "all liquids and gels of any kind in carry-on baggage" really had me frustrated.
When I arrived at the airport parking garage, I took out my bags to remove all of my liquids and gels. Little did I know there was so much stuff that I needed to remove -- nine items!
Just to add fuel to the fire, once I went to the airport screening, they found MORE items that were not allowed, including Carmex, contact solution, a small vial of cologne, and an inhaler. I only knew of the saline in there. The inspector took all of my items and was going to throw them in the amnesty bin. I just stared at him with a look of disbelief, "That is my inhaler! I have asthma!" (*note, my asthma is not that bad, but those things are expensive) I repeated myself over and over until I finally got a supervisor to come over and approve me taking it through. Ridiculous.
The thing I find most-humorous about this whole experience is that once I went through the line, I noticed I had fountain pens and more contacts. Seriously, if terrorists want to get things on planes, they will find a way. But it does set my mind at ease to know that no one will splash their lotion, hair gel, or shampoo on me while in flight. Whew!
posted by em at 8/10/2006 11:50:00 PM
6 Comments:
My inhaler has powder in it instead of liquid. I bet I'd have a hard time convincing them of that fact. Yikes.
In new zealand you could bring in WHATEVER liquids you wanted...as long as its not inside fruit :o)
we have to finish that conversation sometime soon. miss u
It's Tania herself here... firstly, thanks for defending my grammar skills :-) Secondly, I must defend the BBC which I think is an outstanding media resource :-) It was pretty much impossible for them not to go public - the attack was apparently scheduled for 16/8. Thankfully one more date we now have no need to remember. And thirdly, this morning the security alert was downgraded. From tomorrow we'll be able to take small bags on planes (as long and there are no liquids in them). Not bad really for 5 days after the event. Oh and one more thing - ironically, you can go through customs and security, pop into a newsagents in the departure lounge, buy some spray deodorant, pull out those matches you've smuggled through and in a few minutes have a fantastic flame thrower ready for your plane journey! Ha! So much for security!
Robert: Yep, I look like hell. I've had to get rid of so much gel and junk, it's not even funny. Only three more flights this week to contend with. oh, the joy!
Nancy: If you just repeat, "I have asthma!" over and over, it really does work. I've gone on three flights now and still have my inhaler! If it is a prescription and has your name, they don't take it.
Sez: I know... NZ air security is shocking, really. My favorite part is that there is a gate in Wellington where you don't even have to go through a metal detector to get on the plane. It's a prop job, so not that major of a threat... but really... Good to catch up yesterday!
Tania: Glad to see you make a cameo appearance on the blog. Of course I defend your grammar skills! (as long as I get to make fun a little, too. hehe) Thanks for the flame thrower idea... I don't think I'll be needing it, but you score big points for creativity!!
As a side-note, I bought the most MASSIVE bottle of hair gel in California, because it was so cheap. Whenever they searched my bags, I totally forgot about it... until they pulled out the most ostentacious bottle of gel ever!! It probably looked like I was just provoking them. haha
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! That is Hilarious about the hair gel.
I'm mad at the terrorists because we're going to London in October and this now means I can't take my iPod on the plane. The iPod that I've spent so much time loading CDs onto. Oh well.
Oh, and it also sparked calls from our parents asking if we were going to cancel our trip. Uh...No. We had already planned to have our wills done before we left anyway. I just told Ethan if we were meant to be blown up by terrorists, I hope it's at least on the way home.
What do they think they are accomplishing by senselessly killing people on a plane?
Hi Jennifer
I've never met you :-) but just to let you know that you'll probably be able to take your ipod on the plane to London. From what I understand, from tomorrow onwards it's only liquids that you can't take on. October is ages away - it'll all be calm by then.
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