Traveling Is Always Great
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October 12th, 2008
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I'm struck over how often I talk about perspective and also how important it is. Perspective on life, health, work, parenting, illness, health, culture, countries, and/or success. It's always great to experience new things, to see what other people are going trough. If you've flown in the past few years, you know it's turned into a bad joke. Long lines, brainless burger flippers working security, stupid enforcement of rules, cramped planes, and terrible service. But even today, when paranoia is overwhelming., there are plenty of situations where rules are bent or not as strict. Is this this stupid, careless, or irresponsible? Does it really matter for overall security?
It's a real wake-up call hearing people talk about terrorism, security and safety while flying. Do you know that a majority actually believe terrorism is something to worry about on a daily basis? Even those living in such "hotspos" as Nebraska or Idaho? Are you aware many believe flying is far more dangerous than driving? During a recent flight I breezed through security without having to take off my shoes. No one cared about the little amount of liquids in my carry-on and no one opened my laptop to see if it was a bomb. There were no random security checks by ultra serious staff, no guards with machine guns, there was no "no fly list" with 2 million names, no bomb sniffing equipment, no x-ray machines that could see through clothing and I was not asked to show my boarding card and passport 16 times.
While flying, I sat next to the Foreign Minister of a country who had no bodyguards, there were no undercover agents pretending to prevent terrorism, and I was allowed to listen to my Ipod almost until touching the ground. I accidentally forgot to fasten my seat belt during landing and no one screamed at me.
And you know what? I was perfectly safe anyway. People forget that flying is the safest way to travel. It was safe 10 years ago and it's safe today, it has nothing to do with security. We could remove all TSA staff and have them do something useful, we would still be extremely safe at the airport. A few hundred die each year in aircraft accidents. Big deal, 45 000 die in car accidents each year only in U.S.
What's going on at airports and planes today is "security theater" as security guru Bruce Schneier often points out. Some governments want you to believe you're really safe because people are constantly checking you. In reality, most of these checks are completely useless but still costing hundreds of billions of dollars each year.
No one is in the toilet mixing together liquids into a bomb (it's more or less impossible), there is no one capable of spraying Anthrax over a whole city, and no one has a bomb in that laptop. It's paranoia, it's what some want you to believe. You can fly safely today and it's not because Al Queda is on he run. The last point is laughable but many still believe this nonsense.
Flying today often suck, but it's still a great experience. It's good to see how not to act after a crisis and a great reminder how effective mind games and mass psychology can be.
Enjoy your flight!
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