AS I WAS SAYING.....
A tennis raquet is not necessarily a murder weapon...if someone sees you with one in yourhands; you d not be assumed to be an armed terrorist; I do not know of murders or terrorist
acts perpetrated by tenis raquet wilding assassins. So the question that immediately comes
to mind is: Is the person at airports checking-in points prior to boarding whose duty is to inspect passengers physically as well as their personal belongings that they carry with them to the plane cabin....is he a well qualified person? Can he by visual judgement determine whether
an element carried by a passenger may fall into the category of potential murder weapon
or element of destruction capable of creating disaster.
The answer should certainly be in the affirmative. It would not be good judgement to take actions or give directives to passengers that do not make sense or may cause the passenger to, deliberately or not, miss his plane.
Concerning security - everyones agrees it should be safeguarded, but there
should be some measure of discretion and good judgement,lest we create situations that
have nothing to do with the actual security of passengers and the possibility of harm
delivered to them and/or to the aircraft)
Heathrow airport Terminal 1 is not just a busy place: it is the busiest and probably the
most crowded. The answer is simple: many different flights for all destinations leave
from it and the situation is compounded by the measures to counter acts of terrorism
that are in effect that involve lengthy and time consuming checking not only of the goods
taken by hand into the cabin but also physical checking that requires you to remove your
shoes, your clothing, your belts, your change, etc. We grant this procedure is lengthy for
good and sound reasons although not uniformly applied throughout world airports.
Example: in Buenos Aires a deodorant bar and a tube of toothpaste was removed from
my personal effects. In Miami and in Boston I was allowed to the cabin carrying a personal handbag AND my aforementioned tennis raquet.
BA FLIGHT 342 FROM LONDON TO NICE ON APR01/07
I refuse to recount the miseries that I went thru that caused me to loose my above flight from
London to Nice, France. WHY? Because of the .... good judgement? of an overzealous Terminal
1 Inspector who decided that I COULD NOT carry with me, in my hands, my tennis raquet. He
was peremptory: Your raquet MUST be checked in as cargo. Hell!! I thought, I cant just let go of my tennis raquet...its an old Michael Chang Prince. To replace it I would have to get rid of at least 200 bucks, which I will need for eating while I am out suppossedly enjoying the sights of the globe. I am a poor retired man qui appartiens peut etre a la cuatrieme age.
I tried to maintain my composure - which is a thing difficult for a born latin south american and naturalized US citizen.
WILL I HAVE THE TIME TO DO ALL THAT YOU ARE ASKING ME TO DO BEFORE MY PLANE DEPARTS?, I asked.
He looked at his wrist watch, and said: YES!!!
I went about doing what I was asked to do to check in my tennis raquet. I went almost
throught the entire terminal from here to there, then back and then ordered to still go to
other place and then go back to the check in line all over again, stand in line for my turn...
I DID NOT!!! I did not have the time to complete the whole procedure and board my plane
on time.
The story is not over yet!! How can I put in words the blood, sweat and almost tears....my heart frantic beatings , the tiredness of body and soul that took hold of me, particularly running the last 50 or more yards to gate 26.(or was it 23?)....at last!!! Only to find a couple of British Airlines staff members to tell me, matter-of-fact sort of, YOUR PLANE IS GONE, SIR.
I cant reproduce the words or the thoughts that I SHOUTED? HOLLERED in disgust!!
British Airlines!!! NEVER AGAIN....NEVER AGAIN is all that can be printed.
I have always had great respect and admiration for the british. Respect for their
traditions...for their invention of soccer and tennis, two of my favorite sports... for
their music: Elgar, Delius, Williams, etc. which I love.
My respect and admiration went overboard this time!!!
Then the thought came to me: Gee!! I have to let Michele know. She is gonna be waiting
for me at Nice Airport!! ( And learn at that time that my 2 pieces of luggage were missing!!!)
____________________________________________________
At this crucial time, a compassionate woman - an angel- came to my rescue:
B A A SECURITY -
Ninda Darby
She was absolutely helpful; kind, understanding. I was totally upset, she recognized
the kind of stress I was in and she led me to a window where a BA attendant assigned me
to another flight with Nice destination thatwould depart a couple hours later.
I cant thank her enough for being of real help, the kind of help and assistance
that should be available when planning for THINGS THAT COULD GO WRONG FOR
A PASSENGER FOR WHATEVER REASON. Her sense of duty goes beyond selling airlines
tickets and making available the aircraft required to get you there.
The moral of this story -if there is one- is that terrorism can come in many
desguised ways and oftentimes comes to you delivered by those who are in charge
to combat it and prevent it.
Two full days passed before my luggage could be handed over to me. That is the time it took to find it and having it delivered to me as a result of all the mess that I have endeavored -more or less - to recount here.
British Airlines should at least chip in to pay for two sets of underwear that I had
to purchase to reconcile myself with my sense of cleanliness and my body claiming
renewal of obviously smelly underware.... while my luggage would make its way back to my
possession.....
Additionally, I would say that electronic tickets are not much help either in letting
passengers what is and what is not allowed, although a BA member told me: People never
read the small print, anyway!!!!
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