You’ve got to be kidding me!
Word on the street is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wants to make passengers replace their boarding pass with a “safety bracelet.” The safety bracelet will also contain personal information about the traveler, monitor his luggage (just about the only positive in this situation) and shock the traveler, completely immobilizing him or her for several minutes if suspicious behavior is suspected, or for whatever reason they choose.
We all know instances where the police abuses it’s authority to Taser, shoot and harm people they find as a threat, so who says the same thing won’t happen with this?
I’m not one to voice my opinion often, but this is a completely idiotic idea (sorry if that sounds too harsh). I do understand where they’re coming from. Of course they want to preserve the safety of the American people and I’m all for that, but seriously is this really necessary. Airport security is already meticulous enough without this added inconvenience.
I’m sure people will still have to go through the regular process of checking in going through the metal detectors, etc. So having to register people is just going to be one more thing to crowd up airports and waste our tax dollars on. What about all those business people who are constantly at the airport, two or three times a week, or even more! And what about those rich people who travel often for a nice relaxing vacation—what an annoyance. People are going to have to get to the airport four or five hours earlier rather than the recommended two or three, which is already frustrating as it is.
And, hello?!? When was the last instance where a plane went down, killing passengers because someone was a threat rather than for reasons where the plane malfunctioned? Unless the government is hiding situations where this happens, it’s been years since we’ve heard of suicide bombers hijacking an American plane. The only things that do seem to delay planes lately are when people are freaking out causing the airline to be too precautious (if such a thing exists) therefore delaying the flight even more by checking/calming down the traveler and again annoying their other paying travelers.
With this shocking frenzy, aka “safety bracelet” scheme, there will be even more distractions for the travelers and even more unnecessary delays when the airline gets carried away, or even shocks the wrong people. Not to mention that the shock alone can cause serious damage to the person who is receiving it and who knows if the airline actually shocks the right person. Think about all of the law suits when the airline shocks the wrong people. It’s impossible to know the heath conditions of every single traveler.
As for monitoring the luggage, that’s about the only good thing in this whole situation because we all know how airport s love to lose our precious luggage.
Oh, and just when you thought my rant was over….what’s with airlines canceling their flights. This is ridiculous! And quite the inconvenience. I understand that the price of oil is going up (another governmental issue/blame) but you can’t just cancel all of your flights because you think you can’t afford to pay for the gas. I’m sure the airlines don’t need to cancel their flights, but they’re just being greedy and cheap (and not in a good way).
Again, I understand the airline is entitled to do whatever they want by canceling or changing the flights of their customers last minute, but if they absolutely don’t have to, why are they? After I spent nearly $2000 on my ticket to Egypt, which by the way was the cheapest I was able to find and included ridiculous taxes and fees, I got and e-mail stating:
“We are taking this time to send an alert to all of our customers regarding the possibility of changes to their itinerary. Many carriers are canceling flights due to oil prices and to keep operating costs down. When this happens it may cause flight problems for our customers. Here at [insert airline name]** we are trying to be proactive and contact as many people as we can.”
Sure, you’re being proactive, but that doesn’t take away the inconvenience. I bought my ticket almost two months in advance so I can avoid last minute stress, but who knows now. Ah, how the government rules our world. That’s life for you.
I honestly do love airports and watching the crowds of people, but everybody gets annoyed sometimes. Right?
End. Rant.
**I didn’t want to single out a particular airline company. Not that many people would read this but still, don’t want to be single them out.
