Archive for December, 2009
Airport Security Gonch Pull
Travelling at Christmas has always been a bit of a crap-shoot; you knew that there were high odds that there would be delays and line-ups at the ticket counter and through the security and so you had to remember all your Zen-training and deep breathing techniques to combat the high-stresses of Christmas travel.
I was in Lacombe, Alberta visiting family for Christmas and flew in from Montreal on WestJet, which was fine…no waits, everything was smooth…the only worry was when the stewardess welcomed us aboard and introduced herself and the other members of the flight crew, the other steward was her Ex-Husband! She said, don’t worry we still get along! Then she introduced her other stewardess co-worker who was her Ex-Mother in Law! Oh My, I thought, this could be a long flight!
Leaving from Edmonton on the way home was a different story as far as airport security goes because it was on Christmas day that this crazy kid from Nigeria, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight by igniting some explosives that he had sewn into his gonch! WTF! It’s Christmas and this loser has nothing better to do than to try and harm innocent people? Well this was all over the news on Christmas how this guy had burned himself and was stopped by other passengers when he had been locked in the bathroom for an hour trying to rip open his undies and mix some sort of explosive cocktail…how sad!
At the security counter it took about 60 minutes to get to the front of the line, and lucky for me this was a flight from Edmonton to Montreal and not into the US or another country, apparently they were telling people not to have any carry-on luggage on International flights…OMG where would I store the Christmas Cake??
So the new heightened security levels mean that people are being patted down and their bags are undergoing a more stringent and rigorous inspection. The couple ahead of me were heading back to Saskatchewan after they had been in Grande Prairie visiting friends and were anxious to get back for a senior’s curling tourney. They must have been 70 years old and of course the security gaurds decided that she looked like she needed a thorough patting down so she was pulled aside by some guy looking like Stephan Segall the LawMan! A lady cop came over and patted-her down…now maybe it’s just me but this old couple looked as dangerous as puppy at a dog show! How did this Nigerian kid get through security with explosives?? It makes no sense that because of this they start strip-searching grandmas!!
Ok…so maybe the old lady from Saskatchewan had a little bulge at her waist but for Goodness Sakes that was her “Depends” Adult Diaper that needed changing!
I think that what will be coming soon is that there will be NO carry-on luggage at all allowed on any flights and passengers will be forced to strip and wear little “doctor office gowns” on the airplane. Yep…I can see a day when we will all be wearing those little backless green hospital gowns on the airplane after having succumbed to a full x-ray and cavity search by robots and sniffer dogs.
But even that will not be 100% fool-proof because some whack-job will probably still get on a plane with undetectable radioactive plastic explosives injected into his kneecaps that detonates when he rubs his thighs together! Is there no way to avoid these mental defectives??
It really makes me think that driving everywhere is one of the best options for getting somewhere because I can wear my plaid pants, sing along to System of a Down and stop for box of Timbits and a Large Double Double when I want…can’t do that at 36,000 feet!


