At the outset, thank you for keeping our airports safe.
Although the least likeable part of flying is clearing security, I fully
realize the reasons behind the hassles. One must grin and bear the long lines
and annoyances in the assurance that flying may not be fun but at least safe(r).
A sad reflection of the times we live in.
With the politically correct statements out of the way, I do
have a problem that I would like to highlight. It is how you insist that I
place my shoes in the same tray as my laptop, the bag or the jacket.
On Sunday, at SFO, I placed my laptop, the bag and the
contents of my pockets on one tray and my shoes on an adjacent one on the
security scan conveyor belt. For no apparent reason, you walked up to me,
picked up my shoes and deposited them right on top of my laptop. When I
protested, your response was “No shoes in a tray.” I will not waste my time looking
for meaning in that half-brained response. And to clarify, there were enough trays around that day for everyone to use separate ones for their left and right shoes.
You left me with no option but to defy you and put them back
in a separate tray: the way they were before you monkeyed with it. And when you
tried to put them back on the same tray, I had to tell you firmly and loudly that
I will not place my shoes on my laptop before you went away. Yes, words not fit
to be reproduced here were muttered under the breath, dirty looks exchanged but
I had to do what I felt was the right thing. I’ll put up with shit to ensure
passenger safety but complying with some random security agent’s whims is where
I shall draw the line.
You see, I come from a culture that places learning and the
associated tools on a deservedly high pedestal. We have a god for learning, of
course, and incidentally, the day to pay respects to that deity is just around
the corner. And we leave our footwear outside before entering our homes. And if by accident we step on even a scrap piece of paper, we were taught to apologize for it. That's right. However,
I don’t write this with an intention to preach about Hindu and Indian
sensibilities concerning not mixing books and footwear.
The laptop is, among other things, an integral tool of my
trade and placing my footwear on top of it goes beyond religious or cultural
mores: it is downright unhygienic. Commonsense 101. But to quote my father,
these are things that no school teaches. One’s got to pick them up on his own. It
is not a crime to be from a culture where footwear inside the house or
medicines in the toilet is acceptable. Perhaps you have better immunity for all I know. But the
next time you see someone place their shoes in a separate tray, just leave them
alone. Believe me, that does not endanger the safety of passengers or airplanes
in any way.
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