The tragic realities  of  latter day travelers.

One of  the  most  dramatic if not destructive impact  of the Day of infamy popularly called the 9/11 is the  disruption  and transgression of  all that we once held dear and took for granted  in our past experiences  as  travelers,  moving  across borders  through the air or by the sea.

The traveler  is subjected  to such traumatic experiences  and beleaguered by series of woes that the simple thought of having to journey across border gets me so terrified and distressed. It is not just that you have to be at the airport 3 or 4 hours before your  departure , then  the longs lines of queues . it is not only the airport security control and the routine humiliations  it is also that no matter how well  you pack your bags and  whatever  you may  carry, if you made the mistake of taking a low cost operator  such as  Easy jet, or Ryan air  you are in a serious trouble.  That small second handbag which you thought could be carried on to the craft will double your travel fare as you will be forced to  check  it in. Which subsequently doubles your cost and travels  expenses. Days are gone when we travel with 2 three luggage without being inflicted with so much pain and agony. Days are gone when “people travel for travel’s sake”   and felt that sense of freedom  that belongs to  travelers.

The other day I was flying to Helsinki with  Fly-be  air-line from john Lennon Airport in Manchester.  The city railway to the airport was in disrepair. Passenger were forced to go by  coach  or taxi to the airport .  By train it was barely thirty minutes from the railway station . Most or all of the passengers  and I had taken the  next  bus to the airport, as I still had barely 2hours to my flight , I thought  everything  was fine but  when I arrived  at the fly-be check in counter  I had barely  forty minutes and five passengers  ahead of me. When it got to my turn, the Fly-be   staff   said  she couldn’t check me in that I had arrived too late. In a very exasperating  and  rude  manner,  she  exclaimed.  “Am sorry”  she said “I can’t be of any help … you should be here 2 hours before your departure time”.  I tried very calmly to  explain  why  I had been delayed   and  arrived relatively late to the time. “ I still have at least thirty minutes to  go so why are you being so intransigent” , I said to her. She unruly  maintained  I should have been at the airport 2 hours  before the departure. My efforts to  meet  some more compliant  managers was in vain. In fact that effort brought me face to face  with the trending reality of the indiscipline and pig-headedness of the airport staffs in UK  today. The bottom-line is that I had to pay another full ticket , took a hotel by the airport and finally left the next day.

But the miseries we suffer as travelers is no more or less the price hike coupled with declining services , it is no more or less the insolence and the impoliteness of the air travel staffs, it is more or less that every traveler is regarded as a potential terrorist.

So when you have been subjected to the indiscipline of the ground staff and finally  you are confronted with  the routine of the airport security control  it aggravates  your  exasperation for traveling

An overwhelming   sense  of  disgust took over me as the next day I got into the airport security control room. The lines  are  endless . My back- pack is heavy . The screeners  are  screening  every item in details and the lines are not decreasing.  At this point I thought to myself that  John Lennon Airport was a monumental  bullshit. And when it got to my turn to proceed to one of the screening lines  what I received as order  was  “You, gate number 10” Just like that. I considered him for a while for treating me like a criminal and proceeded to gate number 14 which was  likely empty. But from this moment       something  deep in my soul has been busted. And   at this  moment  am being told to take off my belts  and take off my shoes . my pants are very large. Without  my belts they can’t hold so they are slipping of my waist. And I need my both hands to unpack my bags and remove my laptop and all the rest such as keys. God! I thought to myself “it is a  hell  traveling these days”

And   in spite of all of these exasperating  experiences  and humiliation you  find that the airport Security measure in UK  are using  cameras which can screen individuals through their clothes and indicate every  intimate details of the traveler . And this really is the height