In message
,
whitely525@yahoo.co.uk writes
>On 29 Apr, 14:37, Mike Ross wrote:
>> Yesterday I had the dubious pleasure of flying back to the USA,
>>through Heathrow
>> for the first time in a long time. Virgin. It was so bizarre I actually made
>> notes; I swear to you this is 100% true. How did we get to this
>>point? Where did
>> we lose it all? When did we surrender?
>>
>> 1. First stop. Check-in machine. Show passport, swipe credit card,
>>get boarding
>> pass.
>>
>> 2. Bag drop, ten yards further on. Show passport and BP, drop bag. Go
>>upstairs
>> to departures.
>>
>> 3. Fast track security, first pre-security checkpoint; show gold
>>elite card for
>> fast track access.
>>
>> 4. Five yards further on, second pre-security checkpoint; show gold
>>elite card,
>> passport, and BP.
>>
>> 5. Security checkpoint - usual deal, empty pockets, scan bags, metal
>>detector.
>>
>> 6. Ten yards further on, first post-security checkpoint: emigration control -
>> show passport.
>>
>> 7. Five yards further on, second post-security checkpoint: shoe scan. Remove
>> shoes for scanning.
>>
>> 8. Proceed to gate. 20 minutes walking. Start by negotiating a bizarre retail
>> maze with NO direct route through if you're in a hurry; following the
>>signs to
>> the gates leads you round a maze of duty-free 'experiences'.
>>
>> 9. Pre-gate inspection: show passport and BP.
>>
>> 10. Five yards further on, pre-gate security secreening: show
>>passport and BP,
>> bags hand-searched, myself and my son (five years old) frisked (1).
>>
>> 11. Ten yards further on - the gate. Show BP, receive BP stub in return.
>>
>> 12. Door to aircraft; show BP stub.
>>
>> There's only one word for this: BULLSHIT! I could swallow a bunch of
>>procedures
>> and puke up a better system.
>
>No reason why security cannot be less obtrusive and less time
>consuming. Its mostly about money. Flights to the US are the worst,
>passenger names now have to be screened before departure and planes
>have been left sitting on the tarmac just waiting for the green
>light. And the experience of foreigners entering the US has become so
>legendary that many now refuse to travel there. Once I left 3 hours
>for connection through Chicago but even that wasn't enough time for
>doing the Conga through immigration. Doubtless anyone who complained
>could be arrested as a threat to national security :-)
>
>You might take a trip through Ben Gurion airport where they focus as
>much on the individual (with possibly extensive questions about who
>you are and what you were up to, while they pick through your dirty
>laundry...)
>
I occasionally used to go to Israel for business purposes. I found that
the 'leaving interrogation' ceremony tended to be cut shorter if I asked
one of the questioners a question (something sensible and polite -
usually as a follow-up to something they had just asked me). This often
made them to lose their train of thought, and they seemed glad to get
rid of me without too much further delay.
--
Ian |