I haven’t flown since 9/11. The reason I haven’t flown isn’t the one that might come to you mind at first. No, it isn’t that I am afraid to fly. The reason I haven’t flown is that I refuse to be subjected to the ridiculous security measures that are now the norm for the average airline passenger.
Flying before 9/11 was an ordeal. At 6’3” I was usually stuffed in a middle seat. Even though my weight is only about 160 pounds, I was always physically uncomfortable flying. It was just an ordeal I had to get through to get from point A to point B.
Most of my flights were between Philadelphia and Boston’s Logan Airport where I would switch over to catch the local commuter flights to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Again, the whole procedure was an ordeal. From making sure my luggage was transferred (make sure you tip the airport skycaps in Philly or else that luggage doesn’t even get on the plane) to getting a seat that wasn’t right behind someone smoking.
I’ve only made three other flights to different destinations in my life. One flight I made to San Francisco, California for a lost weekend. Another flight I made to Cleveland, Ohio for another lost weekend. The “lost weekends” were both gay related. Don’t ask.
The third flight I made to visit my brother and his family in Greenville, South Carolina. That wasn’t a lost weekend like the other two. That was a legitimate flight that I would like to make again.
My Mother now lives with my brother in South Carolina. I would love to visit her and my brother and his family. However, I will not do it as long as I have to go through this ridiculous routine of taking my shoes off before I board a plane.
As I have mentioned in previous blog postings, I’m not the smartest person in the world but there are certain things in which I am an absolute genius about. My biggest claim to fame was that I saw through was this whole “weapons of mass destruction we must go to war with Iraq” fiasco. I also knew from the get go that George W. Bush was a fraud (but I was far from alone in figuring that out. I had a lot of company.) Of course I also knew that most of Congress, both parties are corrupt and care nothing about the average American but only their chances of getting reelected and perpetuating themselves in power. Again, I wasn’t alone in this statement of the obvious.
Oh every now and then I slip. For instance I did believe in Barrack Obama and “Change that you can believe in.” Since he has been in office he has shown himself to be nothing more than George W. Bush Light. The only positive thing he has accomplished is lowering the level of hatred of the United States by the rest of the world. While important he has done nothing that directly affects my life. But this is a subject to another blog posting that I won’t go into here
On Christmas Day a Nigerian man attempted to blow himself up on a plane bound from Amsterdam to Detroit. He did not succeed. All he succeeded in doing was setting him self on fire and being subdued for a few brave fellow passengers. Now there is your real airline security. It is the vigilant eye of the fellow passengers and their willingness to subdue any potential terrorists.
All the millions of passengers who removed shoes didn’t prevent this terrorist trying to blow up a plan. What did this terrorist do? He put the package of explosives next to his package. So now what are the “experts” on airline security going to do? Pat everyone’s “package” before they board a plane? Are you looking forward to going through that security check? That sounds very much like what used to go on at the New Year’s Eve celebrations at the “packed to the gills” gay bar in Philly I used to frequent in the 70’s.
Folks, I think it is time to announce the obvious. The terrorist have won.
