I’ve recently come back from the States where security is ramped up to an insane degree. All thanks to the shoe bomber, customers (and I use that word loosely) now have to take off their shoes, belt, scarf and coat and are bossed around by cranky men in too-tight pants.
It’s got me thinking – why are we putting ourselves through this? No-one likes it, it’s probably not going to catch the people it’s designed to catch and it has turned airline travel – once a premium experience – into the aviation equivalent of catching an overnight Greyhound bus from Echuca to Kalgoorlie.
Sure, I know there are business people to meet, family to visit, long weekends away to scrape out some measure of fun from our hum drum slogfest of a life – but I’m seriously thinking the airline biz is just not worth it. There’s the drive to the airport, the extortionate parking price, which negates the cost of a cheap ticket, the unedifying spectacle of people taking off their shoes at 7am. Next we’ll have to stand up like animals in a pig pen and pay to use the toilet. Oh, wait, that just happened.
I’m thinking the Greyhound bus is a more civilised way to go. You get to keep your shoes on and can take your nail clippers onboard. And roadhouse food beats Jetstar’s glop anyday.
Julie's Rant 