This Aviation Lifestyle
Inconveniencing our Convenience
-times have changed and so must we… to a degree
Two years ago I felt like I had really stepped back in time. Stepping literally back past over almost a decade it seemed when I took a flight from Melbourne to Sydney during one of my Australia visits. My Australian sister-in-law chuckled at my obvious amazement with the way in which our experience unfolded. There I was all poised to stand in a long line, take off my shoes, belt, blazer and so forth and yet I didn’t have to do that after all. Wow. I had forgotten how it used to be at airports pre 9-11. And not just how it was with air travel within the United States but also in other parts of the world as well as today’s post postmodern realities have so truly changed the way we’re flying.
This past spring, I was motioned to the side and patted down by security when preparing to board a plane to go from Heathrow back to JFK after a fun trip with James over to London. Other times I’ve had my carryon fully re-inspected by security at the gate as well as have been asked over to the side for wanding before even given a chance to step through the metal detector. I know they’re not profiling, or perhaps actually reverse-profiling passengers instead , when little ole’ Former Cheerleader-Girl me who hasn’t even had her first speeding ticket and is smiling her way through the airport in preppy attire and pearls ends up getting some extra-attention from security every now and then. I’ll always be who I am along with the fact that I love flying and love dressing up for it a bit. My natural demeanor is to smile and be pleasant and positive to folks along the way. My carry-on bag basically has a pashmina shawl wrap and a couple of books tucked into it alongside a small makeup case and one change of clothes. That’s about it. So overall, when I think further upon this, maybe in a way I present the “perfect” individual of sorts to enact additional security measures upon since what I present is so utterly safe.
Once it was me, a sweet tottering old granny and a literal child (I kid you not) directed over to the side to be patted down and to have our carry-ons thoroughly searched. The irony escaped no one around us and to our credit, we just accepted the process and went quietly through it though we did, I’ll admit, share a little smile between the three of us. We were a political cartoonist’s dream scene no doubt standing there grouped together.
And I don’t mind this happening to me personally. Security professionals are doing their job of course and if this involves my unanticipated participation and ongoing patience, so be it. Times have changed and so must we. Yes, heightened security measures inconvenience the convenience of our travels by air now. But I am grateful that as the world has changed, slowly but surely our functioning realities are changing along with it. Change is inevitable- the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Some responses reacting to change can be clunky and in the beginning ill-fitting but in my mind, I’d much rather have active response, see society trying than the alternative which is doing little or nothing.
However, in saying this, I must also admit that the occasional running across an almost quaint, old fashioned airport experience like I had within Australia was refreshingly nostalgic. This kind of a-return-to-Mayberry sweetness was akin to our move from Charlotte, NC out to Park City, Utah. Back in Charlotte, big city concerns and troubles surfaced as the city itself grew so rapidly during our time there. Cow pastures literally turned into suburban cul-de-sac neighborhoods, strip malls and a plethora of schools within a few years time. House alarms and motion-activated flood lights were the norm in about every neighborhood; even the private gated ones as well. So when we moved out to a ski town where no one on our mountainside street locked their doors, this came as quite a surprise to us. We had kind of forgotten about not locking one’s house doors while at home but we had totally forgotten about a time and place where no one ever locked their doors. Needless to say, it took us awhile to get used to this but eventually, we came to the point where we too didn’t lock our doors. One of our neighbors loved to gather-up all of the dogs on our street and take them out hiking on the trails above our houses or down a few doors to run around the community park. She’d leave notes stuck to our unlocked front doors that she had our dogs out n’ about and would be returning them at whatever time she had written down. I still smile when I reminisce about this and also about flying within Australia a few years ago. Ah, such spots of sweetness in the midst of this now much more serious business we call living life.
Of course we’re back to locking our doors and being more careful in general. We no longer are living in a tucked-away ski bum town with neighborhood dogs having impromptu play dates. And additionally I realize that cities are one thing as compared to small resort towns. Flying is also one thing as compared to driving. Much of how we all experience our individual lives will be through the attitude and adjustments we make within them. There are times to be surprised and inconvenienced and there are times to be pleasantly surprised instead.
With recent news headlines cropping up about the whole body imaging airport scanners’ controversy and concerns, I may rethink the balancing of experiencing some inconvenience for convenience. Personally, I haven’t thought in much length as of yet regarding these new and very revealing scanners but they will become something to mull further over it seems. There is lots of varying information out there as to how they will be utilized. Opinions run rampant about this type of security scanner. Where does a virtual reality strip-search lead us and is the choice between this or a more traditional body search by wanding or being patted-down really a choice? Ultimately: is personal privacy a dignity and basic civilized societal right that our changing times and circumstances will end up placing into the category of nostalgia?
Two years ago, I experienced a bit of nostalgia in a very pleasant way with not having to undress to varying degree before boarding a plane. I have no idea if the coming future will enact similar situations like this from time to time or if that will eventually all fade away into just our cultural memories of a time gone by.