Text 2868, 100 rader
Skriven 2010-01-09 07:30:48 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
   Kommentar till text 2841 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: The Evil That Men Do
============================
Ward Dossche wrote to Robert Bashe on Friday January 08 2010 at 22:25:

RB>> The last time I _left_ the States from Tampa, Florida (in the late
RB>> 1990s, before 9/11), I found a note in my bag afterwards thanking me
RB>> for not locking it since the inspectors would otherwise have "had" to
RB>> break it open.

WD> I'm not calling you a liar, please don't take it as such. But I think
WD> you must be confused.

OK, to be perfectly honest, and after trying to remember the details, you may
be right. However, the fact remains that this was on an _outbound_ flight, not
inbound, and there was _no_ warning that the bags would be searched. At the
time of that flight, the normal procedure was to X-ray them, not to physically
open and search them. That was what irritated me so much, and leads me to
believe the incident was pre-9/11. After 9/11 there was no longer any question
in my mind as to what would be done with baggage.

WD> TSA-inspections and the requirement to leave bagage unlocked is a
WD> post-9/11 thing. I've traveled, and I still travel, several times a
WD> year to the US and in the summer of 2001 on an assignment in Colorado
WD> I definitely know bagage could still be locked.

I have no idea whether this was something special to Tampa, special to my
destination, special to the day of travel or what. I've never locked bags
anyway, as all I ever take is clothing, so I can't say whether anything like
this was practiced elsewhere.

RB>> I tend to resent things that I'm not informed about in advance, auch
RB>> as the requirement to remove and inspect shoes upon ARRIVAL! at an
RB>> American airport, with my hand luggage lying around open and
RB>> unattended for anyone to steal things out of (which definitely
RB>> happens at American airports - as I discovered in the Dallas airport
RB>> in the early 1980s). This occurred at the Orlando airport in 2001
RB>> (before 9/11).

WD> Again I assume you must be confused. Never ... never ... during the
WD> tens of times that I made the trip have I been asked to remove my
WD> shoes ... until that idiot Richard Reid attempted that stint with his
WD> shoes.

OK, I won't fight about the exact date and presumably it was afterward. But the
point of the affair was that this occurred upon _arrival_.

You arrived, picked up your bags but were not allowed to keep them - you had to
bring them to a tensport belt and pick them up _again_ at a rotunda in the main
building. Then your hand baggage was X-rayed, you were checked with a metal
detector, forced to empty your pockets and take off your shoes while your
valuables sat on the exit belt of the X-ray machine several feet away, with
numerous people milling around the area.

RB>> But such things at ARRIVAL???
==================================

How many taxis or busses have been bombed in the States while bring passengers
to their hotels or to a central city location??? I still have no understanding
or sympathy with such things on ARRIVAL.

WD> When arriving at Kennedy and Atlanta, the 2 main airports which I use
WD> with Delta to fly into the States, you pass immigration, then customs,
WD> then you deliver your bags at a drop-off location for connecting and
WD> interline bags, then you must pass a scanner, climb some stairs to the
WD> departure hall ... and at the end of that pass a scanner again.

That's a good deal simpler than what I experienced at Orlando - and even worse
in Philadelphia one time on USAir.

WD> However, as explained in this conference (I think?) when attampting to
WD> get on a plane in St.Petersburg Russia in November to fly to München
WD> we passed a scanner 5 times in a distance of about 100-120 meter.
WD> Every time shoes off, belt out of the pants, ...   Then we got to
WD> Münich. Scanner upon arrival, pass the Schengen border-control and
WD> then another scanner. In order to board the plane to Brussels there
WD> was another scanner. That's 8 times in a period of 5 hours. We spent
WD> more time queuing at airports than in the air.

In the Philadelphia airport, I was searched no less than four times inside the
terminal, just trying to get to my departure gate. Then I weas searched a fifth
time at the gate. That was the time I really went berserk and came within a
hair of getting myself arrested. I would NEVER fly via Philadelphia or with
USAir again even if I had to pay a premium for a direct/nonstop flight to
Cincinnati. And as things are, my flying days are over anyway.

As far as I'm concerned, bureaucrats are bureaucrats everywhere, minor
officials with more arrogance than brain and a penchent for enjoying their
petty power over travel-worn, overtired people are no Russian or American
invention and counterproductive systems that cause more harm than good are also
not limited to any special country. The only thing that is specific is the
mentality: the Russians are suspicious, the Americans incompetent and helpless
without a computer, the Germans nitpickers and "overcompetent" to boot. The
only good airport, to paraphrase an old saying, is a _dead_ airport, i.e. one
you've just left.

I sometimes have trouble remembering when it was actually _fun_ to fly. It
seems like ages ago.

Cheers, Bob

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