Left Boston this morning bright and early at 8am EST. Which meant I got up before 5am EST … which translates to 4am CST. *yawn* It’s been a long day already and it’s only 2:30pm – problem is, my watch and my body both say it’s 3:30pm. The heat and the humidity are absolutely oppressive too – I thought that the other day it was muggy in Boston, but I forgot what muggy truly felt like. 250% humidity here, I don’t care what the weatherman says, I actually think that I’ll be contacting the indoor humidity in Alberta company because I can’t stand it at all.
Amazingly enough, I made it to Boston & back without being searched, scanned, or anything like that at either airport. I guess I only look like a terrorist when I’m traveling for work. They did ask to check my laptop at Logan this morning, and then they “tested” my carry on suitcase. This involved basically swabbing it for traces of bomb materials – she didn’t even ask to open it.
I don’t think that any of the new security measures at the airports necessarily make us any safer then we were before. Sorry, but I think if a terrorist wants to get on a plane, they will. They should check our carry on luggage for things like weapons and bombs, that’s not what I mean. But all of the hand wanding with the scanner thing? Preventing loved ones from seeing their family & friends off at the gate? That just seems pointless. Maybe it’s just me and I’m being a cynic. Flying out of Logan wasn’t scary, but it did make me think a lot about September 11th and the risks that we take without really thinking about them. I sat there enjoying my bagel before my flight and thought about how many people that day did the same thing. Expecting to get on their plane and fly off to their destination without any problems, just like I did. I don’t think the current security measures would prevent that from happening again – not when I watched a woman run up to the guard in the security line and ask “can I get through any faster? I just bought my ticket and my flight boards in 5 minutes.” And … they let her through. I thought those were the people we were supposed to look out for?
This isn’t to say that I’m afraid to fly – I’m not. There are just some things in life that we simply don’t have a lot of control over, and evil seems to be one of them.
I guess I’m happy to be home, but I miss Boston already. I’m edgy being back at work and indoors – but such is life. I guess we all have to do things like work, huh? Sucks though, doesn’t it? I would rather be walking around Boston (where you can pretty much walk everywhere in downtown), taking photos, playing tourist, enjoying some lemon Italian Ice in the Public Garden, watching the ducks and the swans swim by as the Swan Boats pass.