Russell's Blog

After a two hour delay, my flight to Newark finally got off the ground from Gatwick. Thanks to the general terror freak-out, we weren't allowed to bring anything on the plane except our passports and boarding cards. At the security checkpoint, they told us that we would even have to discard the paper sleeves our tickets came in. No books or magazines, not even ones we purchased after going through security. But then, there was a second security checkpoint on the way to the gate, and they even confiscated the postage stamps I was carrying.

Turns out that was all bunk; we were supposed to be allowed to bring aboard non-liquid items purchased after the first security checkpoint. In fact, the second security checkpoint wasn't even really supposed to be operating as a checkpoint; they were just supposed to look for "suspicious" people and give them an extra search. But somehow, no one got the memo (or whatever), and they just started confiscating everything.

And then, to add insult to injury, as soon as I arrive in the US, the freak-out starts to wind down. Goddamnit. I don't ever want to fly again.