Being an MVP I was invited to attend the Global MVP Summit in Seattle. Just like the previous years, I searched for an airline ticket to take me from Israel to the USA and back, packed my bags and prepared for the long (20-hour-long overall trip).
Passing through Israeli airline security compared to US-security is totally different, and not for the best. With the risk of pissing some people reading this blog I must say that sometimes, I have a feeling that if you add the word SECURITY to any other word in the dictionary, I'll be able to force feed it to many Americans and Europeans, no matter how foul the taste is and no matter how disruptive their lives may become because if this.
Just mention "security" and they (well many of them) bow their heads and mumble something about how important it is.
Liquids? Shoes? Belts? Deodorants and perfumes? A bottle of wine? No sir, you cannot pass that through our highly-secure-security lines! Oh, but wait, what's this? A nail clipper? God forbid you cannot take that with you. On the other hand, I was able to carry on my folding pocket knife (and I won't mention the airport's name right now), and just look at the knifes that the airline lets you have when they give you that in-flight meal.
In Israel I wouldn't imagine leaving a shopping mall unguarded at all entrances, yet in the US, anyone can drive a 4-ton truck full of anything under any mall (well not any mall, there are probably more guarded places) and kaboom.
Yet I dare you argue with that TSA worker, who in some cases, speaks un-understandable English and has just recently immigrated to the US from a 3rd-world country, abut that 4OZ deodorant that you have in your carry-on. I dare you bring in that un-opened bottle of mineral water through security, when you can get the same bottle, same brand, just 20 feet after security. Who delivers these bottles to those shops? Do they hand-inspect every bottle of water? That's just an example, but you get the idea.
Pathetic.
To me, as a foreigner in the US, coming from a country where real security is a real day-to-day life threatening issue, seeing the security inspection lines at the US airports makes me laugh. But I cannot do that aloud, else they will grab me by the arms, call the SWAT and give me that "special" inspection... SeaTac is one of those airports and every time I fly from there I swear I'll never do it again. Turns out I'll do it again yet another time...
:-)
Daniel