Airline Regulations

OK I have had ENOUGH of terrorism.

They have now managed to hose up my business trip and I haven't even packed a thing.

Honestly - a status of elevated????

I know that terrorism is serious business. I have some first hand experience with it. I was working in Manhattan on 9/11. I was walking to my mid-town office that day. I was in Bryant Park behind the fifth avenue branch of the library when a friend of mine in FL paged me to tell me that a plane hit the WTC.

Knowing that she was working from home and saw it on TV made it very real all of a sudden. I was just about at the point where I come out of Bryant Park onto fifth avenue when I stopped to read the page. I noticed a deadly silence - which in Manhattan is UNHEARD of. It really struck an odd chord. I kept thinking "what kind of idiot doesn't know the towers are there?"

As I exited the park I looked over my shoulder downtown and watched in horror ( while cabs where just missing me in the middle of the street) as a plane hit the tower.

The rest of the day is just horror after horror as I walked uptown to a friends building, realizing there was no way out of the city that day. I eventually got home but it was close to 10PM and was absolutely horrible.

So the fact that we are all these years later still dealing with this is frustrating. I lost people that day. It was unreal. And never to be equaled. It was the "where were you when Kennedy was shot" of our generation.

So now that I am traveling again, my quick hop to Tampa would oridinarily just require me to grab my trusty overnight suitcase ( regulation size) , not pack anything weapon-like in it and get on the plane right?

Wrong.

I am allowed to pack my toiletries in a quart sized zip lock baggie. Have you seen one of these? Are you kidding me? Then you can only pack toiletries in 3.4 oz bottles and no half used toothpaste tubes. Ok that baggie won't even cover my medications ( which are unlimited in carry-on but check in is STILL a headache). You are only allowed ONE such bag.

Now I can travel light. I am actually pretty good at it. But that's lighter than anyone - even a man - can travel.

I am going to try it. See how it goes. When it fails - the suitcase is getting checked. I do not have any patience for this crap. I cannot believe that we are relegated to carryon's like this. What is ONE baggie going to net them? Why not two? Why not a Gallon bag? I am the first one to say in this Elevated status, that precautions are necessary nee required. But couldn't they be a little bit more flexible to those of us who have business travel as part of our jobs ? Does this mean they will lose our luggage less? I sincerely hope so but have some major doubts.

So while I will follow the guidelines carefully and attempt to make this work as a carry on, but I am expecting to fail.

My oldest friend in world told me once that I won the prize for the most personal products in the world - and she's right. Sadly, not only do I have a lot, but they are all used too.

Circling back where we began, we are in an average state in the alertness of terror. It's elevated which means practicing vigilence, not just for airline employees but also for passengers . Homeland security and the travel industry have helped make security policy for airlines that overall is good. Or at least it's on the right path. I think under "elevated" we coul still be vigilant and let a gallon bag through. Or two.