I don't live in constant fear, myself. But one reason I don't is because of the efforts which are being made to make me safer. I don't mind going through metal detectors. I don't mind taking off my shoes and opening up my laptop in order to get onto an airplane.
This last trip to Baton Rouge I took my laptop, portable printer, digital camera, and cell phone, all of which need adaptors, three of them the size of bricks. I had the laptop, camera and cell phone in my carry on, while the printer and the four adapters were in the checked baggage. A big mess of wires and transistors. And I thought to myself, "I bet that bag gets searched."
Sure enough, when I got home, there was a flyer in the bag telling me that the bag had been opened and searched.
To me, that's what I call a nuisance. Taking off my shoes and walking around barefoot in an airport is a nuisance. Making sure I am wearing a bra with plastic "underwires" rather than metal ones is a nuisance. Al Qaeda, on the other hand, is not what I'd call a nuisance. That's a threat. For protection against said threat I am willing to tolerate nuisances. |
