My mother was listening to talk radio today, and told me about a blind man that had his cane confiscated by the airline, presumably because it could be used as a weapon. She may have missed some of the story, and had actually been hearing about a blind man that was turned away from a Dubai airline for not having an escort. Troubles for the blind are common in the world of travel and business, and it is not hard to find examples.
Beyond problems for the blind, there are issues for individuals with other handicaps, as my mother heard from a caller to KDKA Radio’s Marty Griffin show. She told me about a caller that explained his difficulties getting onto a plane, due to the hooks he had in place of hands he had lost during the Vietnam War. My mother told me that she could tell the man was probably in tears as he described his problems with air travel, and said that he stated that he never attempted to fly again.
It infuriated me to hear this, particularly since this man is a disabled veteran. But, beyond the issue of handicapped persons having problems with airlines, there is a much more important issue. We are still ruled by fear. Airlines and the government continue to push insane security procedures in the attempt to keep us safe from terrorism, when the reality of the situation is that if terrorists truly wanted to harm us, they would find a way regardless what we do. Travelers in general are inconvenienced daily to create this false sense of security.
Yes, there are certain security measures that honestly do need to be in place, but the harassment of the handicapped, and honestly insane situations like the stories of forcing women to drink their own breast milk before boarding a plane are just that – insane. The bottom line is that we can’t stop every terrorist from carrying out attacks. It is impossible. When they read stories about blind men being turned away from flights, or having their canes confiscated, war veterans being harassed over prosthetics, or women drinking breast milk in order to fly, they know they have won. While not as satisfying to their blood lust as mass murder, it is still a victory for them. All of these things are signs that they are in control of our lives. I am not suggesting that we stop screening luggage and passengers – I am saying that we need to re-examine the laundry list of rules and procedures we have adopted over the past nine years to keep us safe. We need to be sensible, not irrational. We need to stop letting them win by living in fear of what they might do. Fear paralyzes people, and it is time that we stopped letting our enemies (and our government) control us with it.
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