Well that was fun. It didn't start out fun. It started out with almost three hours of ridiculousness at the airport last Thursday. I'm not sure when attempting to enter the United States became a crime in and of itself, but that's how it seemed. After checking in, but still with our luggage, we were kept in some sort of impromptu holding pen for an hour and a half while airport security shrieked and hollered at us. The delay was caused by the fact that every piece of hand luggage had to be searched, and everyone had to be wiped down for traces of explosives. I was feeling pretty explosive myself by the time we got through security - although the woman who actually did my search was actually smiling and polite. And why shouldn't she be? Sure, the job has to be done, but there's no reason you can't be pleasant about it. Many of her colleagues, unfortunately, seemed to assume that even if we weren't planning on blowing up a plane, then we must be up to something equally nefarious. Like wanting to go away and have a nice vacation.
Conversely, at the other end, when we flew home to Canada, they could not have been nicer. Security, which was practically nil, joked with us, told us to have nice flight, and invited us back to visit again. No body or luggage searches, just lots of thanks and good wishes. It doesn't make sense. Why are people departing the United States less of a threat than people coming into the country? If you're going to commandeer a plane, does it really make any difference what direction it's headed in?
Clearly the best way to transport people from one point to another is naked and sedated. Strip them of everything, including their dignity, then knock them out so they won't care.
Okay, there's my rant. Thanks for listening - tomorrow: details on why it was all actually worth it.