Airport risk management:

It was while waiting to board a transatlantic flight from Heathrow last month, having been asked to show my papers at least six times more than one ever used to be, that a hopeless fantasy took root in my mind. As my handbag was overturned, I recalled reading recently that globally there were an estimated 27m scheduled flights a year. A little further along, as my 120ml bottle of contact lens cleaner was confiscated, I thought how few of them had met a hideous fate at the hands of terrorists. And as I later removed my shoes, recalling that the sole apparent justification for this was that one complete halfwit had failed to set fire to his trainers some years ago, I realised that I was willing to play these odds.

— I’d risk flying with terrorists to escape this airport hell, Marina Hyde, The Guardian, 4 August 2007

But did anybody ask her (or us)? Continue reading →