Foiled Terror Attacks are Scary

…or at least, the higher-ups at the British Transport Security Administration (TSA) think so. As an educated, 20-year-old, almost-adult Chinese, I can sympathise with what the monster their grappling with, but as Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing rightly notes, “The point of terrorism is to make us afraid.”

When all passengers on outbound flights from the UK are prohibited from carrying in their hand luggage liquids (yep, no plain water), food items - which of course, includes peeling your bananas for inspection (yeah, I’m dead serious) - electronic items (oh god, my laptop!), and even books and magazines (what the hell are we supposed to do in-flight then?), you know we’ve lost half the battle. I can imagine Osama laughing in his dark and tiny cave as we carry only a couple of tampons, baby food (after it’s been tasted tested), contact holders, keys and wallet up the plane.

You might think that it’s only for outbound flights from the UK, but with Canada and the US already following suit with a “no liquids” policy, it’s only a matter of time (days, weeks?) before the UK applies these restrictions to inbound flights as well (and we’re an Islamic country too…).

I’d say if you’re flying to the UK this September as a first-year undergrad (like me), you’d better do all your crying now. With only a ridiculous 20kg baggage limit, having the precious 5kg (or equivalent) hand luggage taken away from us is no different from a kick in the nuts. That’s a 20% reduction if my maths still serves me right.

So, I’ll end with a highly fictitious, but entirely possible conversation which could very well occur after successfully completing the worst-ever flight you might ever experience this September:

• Airport Officer: Here’s your laptop. It sort of fell out of your luggage (…when we were throwing it around, but hey, all airports do that).
• You: That’s okay. Where is it?

Airport Officer offers you his left and right hand. One with your LCD screen, the other with your keyboard.