I just spent a very successful night in Spokane hosting a pledge marathon for KSPS. During six hours of travel shows, the station raised $90,000 — great by any standards in PBS…really great for Spokane.
The pledge producer commented that the money was “two to one from Canadians.” For years, American PBS stations have nurtured a loyal following north of our border and favored their Canadian supporters by promising “par for your dollars” for the various pledge gifts. Now, with the Canadian dollar actually worth more than our dollar, they still offer “par for your dollars”…but don’t bring the subject up.
My theory is that Canadians, who famously support American public television generously all across the northern USA, do so for their own national security interests (believing that a dumbed-down America can be dangerous, and an America open to the world is good for all). I played on that theme during the breaks (along with the fact that my Norwegian grandparents homesteaded in Edmonton, Alberta), and the phones really rang.
Just 45 minutes out of a deep sleep this morning, I’m at the cute little Spokane airport. It’s too early for me even to have a mood. Then it starts to dive.
Before joining the security line, I remember: no liquids. I gulp some of my apple juice and toss the half-full bottle into the bin. The security agent says, “Steve! I love your show.” Then she stares at my license, laboriously comparing the name on it to the name on my boarding pass. She asks, “Any liquids?” I answer, “Only in my bladder.”
Waiting at the second zag in a zigzag of stanchions, I stare at two bins: quart-sized plastic bags offered to hold our “plastic bottles under 3 ounces”; and plastic booties to protect the stocking feet of the travelers. All I can think of is the irony that these are both made of petroleum.
(BTW: All the luggage around me was made of petroleum, too…except mine, which was the hemp version of the Rick Steves Civita Daybag—which I sell at the same price as the normal bags even though the cost of the material is substantially higher for now. The tag reads, “This 100% hemp bag is patriotic — it contains no national-security-skewing petroleum products.”)
At the zig a few minutes later, I pass time by reading the headlines of the paper held by the man a row ahead of me. I see a story of the USA’s $20 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Under it, there’s a small headline about Israel’s response to persistent Palestinian shelling from Gaza: “Gaza Strip in the Dark: Israel halted shipment of diesel required to run the only power plant in Gaza.”
Remembering the frustration in the voice of the Palestinian who once told me that the US government spends more on each Israeli citizen than it does on each American citizen, I imagined how angry the people of Gaza must be — in the dark with their children.
People around me are happy. The woman ahead of me seems to be a walking ad for all the goodies designed to get you through security in a hurry. Her mesh bags are see-through. Her bottles are neatly lined up. The army of TSA people are jovial, as if they just had a huddle and that was the game plan.
It seems like security is becoming an established part of life. Just like when we had to join our neighbors to buy a lockable mail box last year, I reminded myself to accept the reality and don’t be a grump. I struggled to keep my mood up.
I’m a two-bin traveler: one for the laptop and one for the jacket. I take off my jacket…put it in the bin. The TSA sergeant looks at my sweater and says, “Take off your jacket.” The line is moving slowly. Ahead, I see a frail old man helped out of his wheelchair to struggle through the security gate.
My boarding pass is checked again. I play with the idea that all this “security” might be designed not only to keep us safe…but scared and safe.
Walking to the nearest bench to put things back on, it occurs to me that my socks are not only cold…now they’re damp, too.
A little later, my plane tears past the colorful UPS, DHL, and FedEx planes, past the hidden Air Force bunkers, and lifts above the snowy prairie. Like a mood elevator, my plane climbs. I pop open my laptop and start writing this blog entry. And, like express delivery, I’ll soon be back in my office…happy to be working here in the USA.
Nothing makes me more crazy than TSA policies. The traveling public is treated like criminals; walking through security in socks, belts off, liquids in a bag, 80 and 4 year olds being wanded and patted down! Meanwhile, airport ramp employees go through to work unscreened, food catering trucks go to work planeside unscreened, ALL cargo (not baggage) goes on to planes unsreened. I won’t even go into the fact that the manufacturer’s of the x-ray equipment have acknowledged their machines can’t find explosives in shoes or the fact that laboratories with controlled environments are unable to produce an explosion with liquids on the ground (NOT in an airplane lavatory moving at 540 knots). We are living in an age of security theater. You aren’t actually any safer, but we are spending Billions to make you feel as if you are. What are our billions getting us? Dirty socks, smaller carry on toiletires, LONG security lines and a 15% success rate at finding bomb components in screened luggage (they did find over 80% of the bottled water, though!) Enough is enough.
Thanks for the very nice and very human blog.
I noticed going into the movie theater that they too ban liquids. At least the movie theaters don’t even try to justify trying to wring more money out of us. The airline industry is simply trying to make up for their shoddy business practices by forcing us to buy their $3 water, just like the movie theaters. The fact that the airport staff also terrify us into quiescence and get us used to getting probed on demand is just gravy.
From my first passenger flight in 1950, to my last in 1995 (since then my Sweetie was ill, and she left two years ago), I figure I have been on at least 1,500 flights, have used 118 airports in approximately 35 states and maybe a dozen countries and major Islands. Thank goodness I didn’t have to fly in today’s mess, but I did experience about the first security at an airport. In 1970, while we were in Europe, a couple of airplanes had been hijacked to the Arabian desert and set afire. New and stringent security regulations were in effect at the Frankfurt, Germany, airport when we arrived for our flight home. No one had yet invented metal-detectors and baggage X-ray equipment, but furniture had been arranged in such a manner that passengers were directed into small groups. They had areas blocked off at the terminal building to help control passengers and non-passengers. Men and women were sent into rooms to be physically frisked, and searched very thoroughly. All luggage was put on the tarmac near the plane, and as one identified their luggage, they were escorted directly onto the plane. If you packed a bomb, you rode the plane. I liked it much better the hundreds of times that the beautiful, hot-pants uniformed Sweeties on PSA, met me at the loading gate, and off we went.
> “The airline industry is simply trying to make up for their shoddy business practices by forcing us to buy their $3 water, just like the movie theaters.” The “airline industry” does not profit from the $3 water, and there’s no evidence it pushed the TSA into imposing the ban.
Now this is a subject that gets me going. The TSA has a job to do but my gosh are they really going to stop that highly trained organization that wants to hurt someone? I don’t know. I think they are a deterrent and nothing more. How do I know the guy staring at the x-ray screen doesn’t have a huge hangover and is sleeping with his eyes open? I hate taking off my shoes. Damn that shoe bomber and for that matter the “Liquid Plot” bombers. I don’t think it will ever end. One time I was in Tulsa Ok on business and I was a bit grumpy that day and I asked the TSA agent if I had to take my sandals off. She said don’t be smart with me mister. I got searched.
$3 water? I never buy it because I take an EMPTY plastic water bottle, placed upside down in the outer pocket of my backpack, through security and fill it at the water fountain on the other side. I have never been stopped or questioned.
Rick, I like you and your enterprise but you sure take things at face value and then demonize those who are not of your political beliefs. Here is informaiton related to the “blackouts” in Gaze:On at least two occasions this week, Hamas staged scenes of darkness as part of its campaign to end the political and economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists said Wednesday. In the first case, journalists who were invited to cover the Hamas government meeting were surprised to see Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his ministers sitting around a table with burning candles. In the second case on Tuesday, journalists noticed that Hamas legislators who were meeting in Gaza City also sat in front of burning candles. But some of the journalists noticed that there was actually no need for the candles because both meetings were being held in daylight. “They had closed the curtains in the rooms to create the impression that Hamas leaders were also suffering as a result of the power stoppage,” one journalist told The Jerusalem Post. “It was obvious that the whole thing was staged.” Another journalist said he and his colleagues were told to wait for a few minutes before entering the chamber of the Palestinian Legislative Council so that each legislator would have time to light his candle. He said that when he saw that the curtains had been closed to prevent the light from entering, he realized that Hamas was trying to manipulate the media for political gain.
I am with the first poster, Concerned Citizen, on this one. And now the TSA are fiddling with a new toy, black lights to check ID’s. Will they start making flying an excuse to check for unpaid parking tickets and overdue library books? Steves is much too gentle with the bozos at the TSA. For more rants see the Travel Safety/Security forum at http://www.flyertalk.com/
Hey Rick! I live in Spokane and watched the broadcast Sunday. And yes, we are already supporters of KPBS. Anyway, my husband travels the world for business and obviously flies out of the Spokane airport when he leaves home. He says the security there is worse than at any other airports he flies through anywhere in the world. The security people seem to take great joy in making people miserable. Spokane is such a hub of terrorist activity you know. That old man in the wheelchair may have been carrying weapons of mass destruction! (Sarcasm)
Bob said: > “one journalist told The Jerusalem Post” Oh, phew, I was afraid you might use a *biased* source when it comes to the Palstinians.
A biased source: certainly as is the NY Times, Washington Post, Time of London and just about any newspaper you care to name. The question is: is this being refuted by anyone, Palestinian who was there; or newspaper reporters; or Arab newspapers. I would imagine the Arab News, a Saudi english language publlication would be all over these “lies”. I wonder why no one is?
Maybe if there hadn’t been “persistent Palestinian shelling from Gaza” the Israelis wouldn’t have reacted as they did. Oh well, I’m sure it had to be the fault of the Israelis. Or maybe Bush. Or Cheney. Or maybe an evil oil company executive profiting from our phony war of conquest and oppression in the interests of propping up our corrupt capitalist system of which the TSA employees are only one more tool of the establishment as they continue to suppress the will of the people.
Rick writes “Remembering the frustration in the voice of the Palestinian who once told me that the US government spends more on each Israeli citizen than it does on each American citizen …” Look, there’s lots wrong with our Mideast policy and our kow-towing to the Israel lobby. And its great that you’re a public voice speaking out about it; I admire your courage in voicing an unpopular view and I want to see our policies dtermined by the best interests of our country and principles. But I hate it when people pass on sill statements like this. Obviously you’ve accepted it as true or you wouldn’t be repeating it, the “fact” is proof of how deep we’re entrenched in support of Israel. Yet even a second’s reflection by someone who hasn’t already made up their mind would tell you that this claim is preposterous. Think about how much the average family pays in taxes; do you really think we spend thousands per Israeli? You didn’t even pause in swallowing this lie because it dovetails with what you’ve already decided, and it makes an inflammatory soundbite in support of your position. What kind of government spends more on somebody else than its own citizens?!! But with the internet its easy to look up numbers. The US population was 300 million in 2007, and the total government spending was $3,100,254 million according to http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/apers.html, which works out to $10,334 per person. US spending in 2004 (last year I found numbers for) was $2,862 million according to http://telaviv.usembassy.gov/publish/mission/amb/assistance.html. The bulk of this was military. The population was 6,780,000 which gives per capita spending of $422. So your Palestinian friend isn’t correct, not even close. Whether we should spend even $422 per Israeli is another question, but as to the truth of the inflammatory claim now you know the answer. I wonder if you’ll keep repeating it in your speeches and comments.
Mike, I’m not sure you’re talking about the same thing Rick is. For instance, you didn’t mention the amount of foreign aid the U.S. sends to Israel every year. Wouldn’t it have been more logical to ask Rick what his information was based on, before you rushed to judgment?
Mike, Rick was very careful to say “the Palestinian who once told me”, so it’s not his fault if the facts are wrong. I looked on snopes.com and could not find the answer and I submitted it to them as a question. Rick, I love your blog. Keep it coming! P.S. Thanks for making it so easy to post comments to your blog (i.e. no registration required). This really encourages dialog.
lee, it always puzzles me when people post replies without bothering to do the slightest amount of research. Just why do you think the number I gave doesn’t include the US foreign aid? I wasn’t just pulling numbers out of the air, I’m giving the links to where they came from. If you would click on the link I provided to the US embassy web page you’d see that the number I gave is the total aid sent to Israel from all US sources. If there’s any “rush to judgement” here, it is on your part for deciding the figures I gave were incomplete without spending even a few seconds looking at the link I gave to see what the numbers cover. Scott, nice try, doesn’t work. Would Rick slam a hotel in his guidebook based on a complaint from one reader that “hotel X has bugs, the staff is surly, and they’ll overcharge you to boot?” I hope complaints cause Rick to look farther, but that he doesn’t pass them along without some checking or independent collaboration (eg. multiple complaints from different people). And how about if it turns out the reader works for the competing hotel across the street? I hope you can see the analogy between this and a Palestinian criticizing Israel. What really bothers me here is that what Rick is saying about Israel overall is basically right; they have too much influence over US policy and they are doing things that not only are wrong in their own right but are perceived by much of the world as being the indirect actions of the US. However when I see Rick pass along claims that are preposterous and clearly meant to inflame public opinion I wonder if Rick is on the fringe instead of the opposition.
Mike, I guess I should have put a smiley emoticon in my comment to make sure every knew I was being sarcastic. Of course Rick is responsible for every word he writes in his blog.
Hi, Rick! I’ve flown in and out of Spokane. The quaint, cowpokey airport has it’s own security culture for sure, but nice folks there. Yeeehawww! Happy travels to everyone. :)
rick, am back in europe with some sanity on security. leaving portland on lufthansa yesterday, the counter clerk never asked me about who might have done something to my bag-was it out of my contröl. in the plane we had metal utensils, even knives, and the beer and wine were free in economy. the food was eatable too. next will go through security flying to england. no need to take off shoes. sanity again. thankful to be back in europe. larry from springfield.
I think the reason it is more relaxed is that you are LEAVING the US going into Europe and they might not be as worried over terrorist attacks. It is coming INTO the US that there is more security and with good reason.
Rick, I guess this is one of the reasons why most of your most loyal followers envy your job. You get to live 1/3 of your life outside of this idiot American society. There are all of these people who say, “If you don’t like it you can leave.” I say to them, “Get me ANY European passport and I won’t let the door hit me in the butt on the way out.” By the way, I find it very ironic that my word below to verify that I’m not a spammer is “pilgrims”.
JRod, you say “get me any european passport and I won’t let the door hit me in the butt on the way out” ..you can get a passport by filing an application out and sending it in. But I think you mean a work visa…Now remember be careful what you wish for..housing over there is enormous..in London you get a square room no cabinets and no appliances for like $3,000 for a studio. Have you ever looked at the prices of houses over in Europe..anywhere in Europe..the price is out of reach for most of us and that is why they probably have several generations of families living together and then it is handed down for generations. And then the work- you think it is bad commuting here remember what it is like in London, Paris and Rome–if you can’t afford to live in the city then you have to commute in and pay $6.00 a gallon and then on top of that pay for the parking and like in London a surcharge to be able to commute in. Visiting and even staying for three months to study is one thing but living there is like living anywhere after awhile the small things become big things and the same things we complain about here we would be complaining about there except in England you pay 50% of your income for tax and most jobs pay about half of what we are paid. But if you want to move there, there are books and website that show what jobs are offered so do some research. Plus in some countries they are looking for Americans to teach English as a second language.
Patti, and I would welcome every cent they took because I know it’s going to fund something worthwhile to humanity and not a bomb halfway across the world.
Mike, Your comment has total government spending was $3,100,254 million. Does total goverment spending include foreign aid? What about Social Security and other programs which could be considered pass throughs? If these are included, the total expenditure per person would be skewed. What is the discretionary spending expenditure per person? I would agree that the comment the US spends more per Israeli citizen than US citizen is highly doubtful, but I think you figure per US citizen is higher than the actual.
JRod-Ok then here’s the deal… because I have looked into this and it is workable. Go on line to Barnes and Noble or half.com and there are books there that tell you how to get jobs overseas. There are tons of websites just google overseas opportunities and you will come up with more than you spend the next 3 weeks on. Then if that does not do it for you go to the UN sites, IMF, World Bank,WTO,and WHO and you can find all kinds off opportunities here and overseas on those site. I came up with some pretty good jobs- and of course if you are IT you are in like flint or a nurse you can name your price- but what I hit a brick wall with was the fact I’d be living in almost public housing because that is all I could afford over there and did not in the end want to give up my 4 bedroom house in the suburbs. So now I just visit 3 times a year or one a year for a month. Good luck and happy hunting because if you can dream it you can do-if you really want it and are willing to make the material sacrifices you can be there before you know it. If you need more direction let me know.
Patti: Except for the “no appliances” part, everything you say about Europe housing and driving and parking is true in the CA Bay Area too. And friends I have who live there are disputing the “no appliances” part. Still, housing is tough!
> except in England you pay 50% of your income for tax and most jobs pay about half of what we are paid. You know, I keep hearing this about Europe–they pay most of their money in taxes and make so much less than we do. Yet when I’m there, all I see is lines of well-dressed people shopping all the time. Their economy is booming. How do you account for this? And when you say “half what we are paid,” what does that mean? Because the Euro is worth 1.5 times more. And more of services we pay for are free there. So it’s like comparing apples and oranges.
I don’t think their economy is booming- what you are looking at is the fact that in 2001 the euro was worth 89 cents and now it’s worth 1.50 or so but what can it buy over there. When I look around at comparison pricing , playstations and MP3’s and computers are almost double what we pay here so maybe you and I don’t have the same idea of booming economy. My dollar can buy a bigger car , more house and tons more luxury items then they can in the EU. I don’t want to sound snooty which can happen when you are on these type blogs but what is well dressed? Are you talking about Milan and Paris as compared to podunk USA or Manchester England compared to New York -it all is realtive and depends on where you are and what you are comparing.We as Americans have always been more relaxed in our dressing and that’s just a cultural thing, And look at what has happened with the markets over there, we look like we are tanking and they tank. We are all hooked up in some form and fashion when it comes to economy. I don’t know of anything that is free over in the EU that we pay dearly for here. Health care is always a hot button but no one in the UK or EU is happy with the health care there so that’s the same as us here. I think the grass looks greener on the other side and the point is if you want to sample it, don’t just talk and fret about it and find excuses not to sample it, go for it do it. I had a job offer in the UK after searching for months for a pharmaceutical company but when I started looking at housing I cried because it would be like living in what we use to call low income housing that is all I could have afforded on the salary of 25 pounds a year and I have a MBA. So I say explore all the options but go in knowing that vacation and life are so different. Even a tiny apt in Montmarte goes for 800 euro a week and that is with no elevator. I love the UK and EU and will continue to visit as much as I can but in the end I am too materialistic to move.
Rick, I think it is wonderful that you are helping public television. I appreciate some of the quality programs they provide, and wish there were more of them. And you don’t have to worry about having to endure all the violence, sex, and offensive language of most TV shows. I don’t think I’ve ever heard PBS bleep a single word!
> “it all is realtive and depends on where you are and what you are comparing.” Right on. So, @ $3000 for a small apt. in London = New York. Case rests. Thanks for winning it for me.
> “Even a tiny apt in Montmarte goes for 800 euro a week and that is with no elevator. ” About the same as SF Bay Area or Seattle.
Jackie and Pats you are missing the point there is no winning or Oh now I’ve got you which is what I feel you are saying. If someone wants to move to Europe I am saying they should go. Seattle, New York, California are all good compatible examples, to be honest I did not realize that a studio apt in Seattle of SF area goes for $3200 a month like Montmarte.But again the salary and cost of living has to be looked at and I don’t think Paris is paying pharm reps 85K a year. What I am talking about is people who are from areas **other88 than the most expensive ones in America would find it out of reach financially. I live in the safe burbs and have a 3500 square foot home and my mortgage is $1200.00 a month. I could not give up my space to live in a shoe box for $2000.00 a month in a dicey section of London in bascially a tenament. But that’s just me. I was offered 25 pounds or about 50 K to work in London, my rent in a run down area in an old building with one square room, tiny bathroom and no appliances would have been about $2,200 a month. The trade off was not worth it to me. And you both are right it is relative my point is that I could not live in London making 50K on what the rent was over there and from your numbers I could not live in Manahattan, SF bay area or Seattle making 50 K the compatible London salary either. That is why I don’t live in any of those places which are wonderful places to live. I’d need to make about 100K to live comfortably there as well and I am sure I’d be paid more in those areas because of the cost of living. If I took the london job and with the rent I’d never be able to do anything more than sit in my apartment and go to work. Again my point is go for it if you want it’s doable to get a job I just did not want to give up my house for what I could afford in London.
Have you all read in the IHT that is on the Rick Steves main site under news EU justice chief proposes fingerprinting all visitors The Associated Press Friday, January 25, 2008 BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia: The European Union’s top justice official proposed Friday to replicate U.S. border security measures in Europe with plans to fingerprint and electronically record the entry and exit of all visitors to the 27-nation bloc. The measures would ensure more secure borders and prevent visitors from illegally entering Europe, or overstaying the three-month stay given to tourists and EU visa holders, Franco Frattini said. “The electronic register should include viable biometric identifiers,” Frattini told reporters during two-day talks of EU justice and interior ministers. He said visitors overstaying their welcome were “the No. 1” cause of illegal immigration.
Great article y’all take a peak, it was on Ricks main page a few days ago about safety in Europe as opposed to say NY http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7201193.stm BBC News By Tom Geoghegan BBC News Magazine Where is it safe to walk the streets? Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says she would not feel secure on the streets of London late at night. So where is it safe to walk?
My mood has been elevated to find another member – Steve – of what I call the Cassandra Club – those of us whose voices have been cut off from media exchange and participation, who see what’s going on despite a corporate-owned, -controlled and -sanitized press, and who are powerless to educate our countrymen or are disbelieved when we try. Generally, my mood is elevated when I remind myself that about 75% of my countrymen have figured it out anyway, in varying degrees, despite the heavy hand of the NeoCon coup. This thing is going to be settled in the streets. I go to national protests and drive home to Michigan wondering ‘where IS everybody?’ But I’m going to keep going; eventually, I’ll find myself in the middle of The Big One. The last great NeoCon war was settled in the streets. The Europeans keep that lifestyle we all travel far to dabble in when we can afford it by putting large chunks of their populations into the streets on a semi-regular basis. There’s another call from UfPJ http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ to March in DC on 3/19 (which marks the beginning of the 6th year of this NeoCon war). I’ll be there. Hope to see y’all. JC Go to airameica.com, click on “Listen”. Now.
Jim C- are you wack on crack?? What does your whole thread mean, I can’t follow any of it so for us old people can you bring it down to English and explain to us what in the hell you are talking about
Whoa! Re: the Patti & JRod thread: How about a comment from someone who lived in Europe – for 13 years? If you conform to both their economy and their standard of living, you can do just as fine as the people living in whichever country you want to live in. To conform to their economy, a person needs to have their income from that country. To conform to their standard of living, a person needs to stop thinking American when it comes to living space and “stuff”. I managed that in one of the three countries in which I lived. That was the one I lived in for 7 years. The economy part was easy since the visa to live there also allowed me to work there. The standard of living was different, and I was there for about 3 years before I began to conform to that. But it wasn’t until about the 5th year that I was thinking like a native. How do I know I achieved that? When I was leaving to return to the States, my co-workers were shocked to discover that I was an American. When I asked why they were shocked, they replied that it was because I was “not materialistic like all Americans.” (In case you are wondering, I never denied being an American; it just didn’t come up in conversation. Apparently, I didn’t have much of an American accent, either!)
Good feedback Jo. I spent a number of years consulting in Europe before retiring and that was my experience also. The pay was slightly higher than the US (for someone in business with an MBA), cost of living was cheaper then became more expensive especially in Switzerland, but there is more focus on relationships with family, friends and other people and less on accumulation of things than here. I certainly enjoyed the additional time at lunches to socialize and 5 week vacation time – really had to readjust when I came back here
Thanks for the input and I certainly defer to those who have lived and worked there as my personal experience stopped me short because of the housing issue. You bring some very good points and valid examples to the table of your personal experiences having lived there.
Funny that you should be complaining about security measures at an airport while crying over the Palestinians. The Palestinians made hijackings and airport massacres an art form.
Saudi Arabia has trillions in wealth. Why don’t they give some to the Palestinians? Oh yeah, Arafat supported Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait. They must have felt next in line.
Reading some of the comments around here leads me to wonder about the mechanic and practicalities of living abroad. Helping Americans do that might be an interesting new sideline for Rick Steves. Any commentary along these lines would be very much appreciated.
Joel, there are over 8 million Americans living around the world today. And a number of sites on the web, books, and local resources to help with their process of moving and living in another country. There is a radio show that is dedicated to living abroad (theexpatshow with Tai Aguirre). There are organizations such as International Living that provide assistance for a cost. There are a number of home exchange networks, some of which work very well even exchanging cars as well both short and longer term. There are other sites that facilitate spending the night on someone’s couch when traveling (mixed results here). Or the use of Skype to cheaply call back home. And there are many local networks of expats that put out newsletters in countries such as France, Panama, and Italy. I have used a number of these and like Rick’s information they can be a great resource for traveling as well as staying years in another country.
I think many of you need to review Rick’s Posting Guidelines. Click on the link and read before posting.
I check in on Rick’s blog’s about once a week as I enjoy his travel opinions and have found the blog to be interesting. I missed the chance to post on the blog about Rick’s confrontation with the Marine. Although, it sounds like the Marine “ambushed” Rick according to his account, I feel like the overall tone of Rick’s comments become more anti-American and hateful ever week that goes by. I didn’t personally want us involved in Iraq, not because we didn’t have every legal right to enforce broken internation law, but because I didn’t think the benefit was worth the cost. But now that we are there, I want the best possible result for the US, which is a stable Iraq, and support and honor for our troops. It almost sounds like Rick is trying to defend the killers of innocent civilians by calling them “guerillas” instead of terrorists. I think Ricks intentions are good and I’m not going to make any pronouncements about not ever listening to Rick again, but I wish he would focus on the fact that the world is a better place with the United States than without. As much as Rick emphasizes respecting other cultures and viewpoint, I think he needs to respect the fact that others feel they are defending his rights whether he thinks so or not. The Marine may not have acted respectfully to Rick but he feels as strongly about his position as you do about yours.
A distinguished gentleman we met in Trier, Germany, told us his sons, who had attended college in the US, would prefer to live in our country, rather than return to Germany after graduation. When we asked why, he stopped, thought a moment, then answered, “Freedom from the neighbors.†We responded, “What do you mean by ‘freedom from the neighbors’?†He again thought a moment, then said, “People in Germany are so concerned with what their neighbors are doing — when they wash their car, when they hang wash on the line, stores close early in the evening, and are closed on Sunday. In general there’s a feeling of less individual liberty than many people feel they should expect.†======= There was near unanimous agreement among the people in Germany, who we asked about “Freedom from the neighbors.†As one lady said, “It wouldn’t be so bad if they were just nosy, but they are so judgmental.†Isn’t it funny,we never met one German who admitted to be one of those “judgmental neighbors.â€
I understand the need for security – and before I get blasted, I am glad to have some measure of extra safety – but not the need for cold, rude, nazi-like cattle herding. The TSA is serving a purpose – but doing it so poorly that I now doubt anyone would object to going to the new scanning system. Or at the very least require ALL TSA nazis to go through a little common courtesy course.
In addition to clothes, money, and a passport, the most important thing to take with you on vacation is a positive attitude. It’s amazing how many stupid, ignorant, inefficient, obnoxious people you meet when you are in a bad mood. That’s true even when you aren’t on vacation. ===== Well come to think of it, it is also true when you write a message on a blog.
I’m surely not the only person who becomes enraged almost every time I’m anywhere near the staggering idiocy of the TSA machine, but I still am incredulous at how passively we all have accepted its pathetically crude and shockingly wasteful systems, equipment and staffing. when I went to Israel in the 80’s, all travelers were met within minutes of entering the El Al area by clearly well-trained, intelligent, interested individuals who politely asked about one’s plans, purposes, destination- and whatever else seemed relevant. this was repeated at every juncture- everyone at the airlines was empowered, educated and alert and used their brains to make all of us feel noticed, safe and respected. does it need repeating that there has never been an incident on an El Al plane? the most infuriating and tragic element of our own “system” is that it is such a horrid mirror of our misplaced worship of specialized equipment and slogans, militaristic systems and the threat of force to solve all our problems, and how little we respect the power of our own perceptions and intelligence. and god forbid anyone protest, or we’ll be “marked” on the mysterious blacklist, or at the least be so inconvenienced we’d just as soon hold our nose and bitterly acquiesce. it’s an utterly de-humanizing exchange: we’ve the choice of being bullies, children or fools.