3 ms·

Practical short-term self-help advice, but irrelevant to this political debate. Troll?

by alanh 17y ago

foldr 17y ago
The OP seemed to be seriously suggesting that aiport security is so bad that he wouldn't consider flying to a foreign country for a holiday. I agree that aiport security is a bit of a farce. But hysteria of this sort doesn't contribute much to the political debate either. I'm not sure that providing practical self-help advice ought to count as trolling, anyway. HN isn't meant to be a political forum. Strictly speaking, any political debate is OT here.
- Silhouette 17y ago
  > But hysteria of this sort doesn't contribute much to the political debate either. It's not hysteria, it's fact. I personally will not fly to many destinations now, because the unpleasantness and inefficiency mean it is not worth the effort. I have been finding out recently that several of my friends and family now share this view, so I'm certainly not an isolated case. For comparison, I will happily travel between London and Europe via Eurostar to Paris, where the equivalent checks required about five minutes and nothing particularly onerous or unpleasant, and in fact the staff were friendly and helpful throughout.
  - foldr 17y ago
    Well, I fly between the US and UK quite frequently, and I don't have any problems. You do seem pretty sensitive (e.g. worrying about the fact that people are "glaring" at you).
    - Silhouette 17y ago
      > Well, I fly between the US and UK quite frequently, and I don't have any problems. Are you a US citizen? (Edit: And on the glaring over the passport thing, that is clearly not a deal-breaker in itself, though for me the arbitrary strip searching is, as is the biometric scanning to enter certain countries.)
      - foldr 17y ago
        No, I'm British, but I'm studying in the US at the moment. FWIW, the visa makes very little difference to how you're treated. Same experience as when I've entered on a visa waiver. Customs & immigration are generally polite, often even friendly. Security is a hassle, but not an unbearable one by any stretch of the imagination. Before I went to the US for the first time, a lot of British people did warn me about how awful US immigration officers are. But frankly I'm now inclined to put this down to the general British tendency to expect the worst :)

Practical short-term self-help advice, but irrelevant to this political debate. Troll?

by alanh 17y ago

Practical short-term self-help advice, but irrelevant to this political debate. Troll?

foldr 17y ago

The OP seemed to be seriously suggesting that aiport security is so bad that he wouldn't consider flying to a foreign country for a holiday. I agree that aiport security is a bit of a farce. But hysteria of this sort doesn't contribute much to the political debate either. I'm not sure that providing practical self-help advice ought to count as trolling, anyway. HN isn't meant to be a political forum. Strictly speaking, any political debate is OT here.

Silhouette 17y ago
> But hysteria of this sort doesn't contribute much to the political debate either. It's not hysteria, it's fact. I personally will not fly to many destinations now, because the unpleasantness and inefficiency mean it is not worth the effort. I have been finding out recently that several of my friends and family now share this view, so I'm certainly not an isolated case. For comparison, I will happily travel between London and Europe via Eurostar to Paris, where the equivalent checks required about five minutes and nothing particularly onerous or unpleasant, and in fact the staff were friendly and helpful throughout.
- foldr 17y ago
  Well, I fly between the US and UK quite frequently, and I don't have any problems. You do seem pretty sensitive (e.g. worrying about the fact that people are "glaring" at you).
  - Silhouette 17y ago
    > Well, I fly between the US and UK quite frequently, and I don't have any problems. Are you a US citizen? (Edit: And on the glaring over the passport thing, that is clearly not a deal-breaker in itself, though for me the arbitrary strip searching is, as is the biometric scanning to enter certain countries.)
    - foldr 17y ago
      No, I'm British, but I'm studying in the US at the moment. FWIW, the visa makes very little difference to how you're treated. Same experience as when I've entered on a visa waiver. Customs & immigration are generally polite, often even friendly. Security is a hassle, but not an unbearable one by any stretch of the imagination. Before I went to the US for the first time, a lot of British people did warn me about how awful US immigration officers are. But frankly I'm now inclined to put this down to the general British tendency to expect the worst :)