Airport Sucurity

Airport security

A1 Summary

The text"Spread your legs and smile" is written by Shashi Tharoor. He write about the experiences when air travelling. He's very much used to flying, as well as checking in, as he has been a frequently flier since he was 6 years old. When talking about security after 9/11, he has a lot to say and af lot of experiences. One thing that seem to irritate him the most is the frisking and the security going through his luggage. He finds it very embarrassing, when the security is holding up and going through everything, or when being checked by the "bleeping wand". The security has even brought his book to a compressor to see if they could blow it up. As an attempt to make checking in easier he has started wearing slip-on loafers and bringing a much of his valuables as possible into a carry-on. S.T. makes the whole procedure sound very tiresome and importunate.

A2 "Texts"

Shasi Tharoor is very hostile towards airport security. He thinks that airport security has gone paranoid and that the paranoia of the airport security has spread into travelers minds. In his text he describe his own experiences with airport security, and his conclusion is that airport security's development has gone in the wrong direction, and now as paranoid as ever.

Blake Morrison thinks, on the contrary to Shashi Tharoor, that there's too little security in the airport. He states that the airports create an illusion of security only where the travelling public can see it. In the part they can't see, the security level is very low. Only the travelling people are checked properly. The security check of the employees at the airport isn't convincing.

Elisa Ben-Rafael is surprised by the lack of development in the U.S. airports security after 9/11. She thinks that the airports and airlines haven't done anything to prevent new terrorist attacks. She's also surprised by the difference in the airport security in the U.S. and in Israel. Her conclusion is almost identical with Blake Morrison's. There's not enough security in the airports, and the airports can't guarantee for the travelers safety.

A3

"Frisking the flight crews in front of the passengers is downright foolish. It only makes passengers feel unsafe"

I can't disagree or agree with the statement concerned. I agree with Blake Morrison, who also wants the airport ground-crew and the flight attendants to be searched. I feel that they constitute as big a threat to my safety as my fellow travelers do. The threat might be even bigger, because the flight attendants and the airport ground-crew have access to areas the travelers do not have access to.

On the other hand, I can see why people are nervous if they see the pilots of the plane they are about to board get frisked, because the pilot is an authority you trust. When you buy your ticket, you lay your life in the hand of the pilot and trust him to fly and land the plane safely.

I was in a plane just a year ago, and I looked out of my window and told my fellow traveler that I would never jump out in a parachute. My argument was that I would never trust the parachute to be intact. Then my fellow traveler said something which gave me quite a lot to think about. She said: "Is that not the same when it concerns an airplane? Why do you trust that when you do not trust a parachute?"

It was an awkward situation because I didn't know the answer to that question. There's no reason to trust an airplane not to crash compared to a parachute. Actually it makes more sense to trust the parachute not to crash because the airplane has so many hidden factors which can make it crash: Problems with the electric stuff, terrorists in the passengers, the pilot's and the cabin crew's mental condition etc.

That question made me think, and now I'm actually a bit afraid to fly. Not so afraid that I can't enter an airplane, but afraid enough to sit in the airplane and imagine all sorts of horrifying scenarios.

And afraid enough to feel unsafe when a member of the flight crew is frisked in front of me and my fellow travelers.

A4 "Letter to the Editor"

The world has changed. After 9/11, U.S. president George W. Bush hasn't wasted one moment. He has constantly made propaganda for his antiterrorism program, and in the beginning of the first period he was elected he used peoples fear after 9/11 to get more powerful and make support of his person stronger. This has been reflected to the airport security, and I think there has been a remarkable change in the airport security if you look at it now and then. There's no way a traveler can have anything dangerous in his hand luggage or on him and