<p>^ Yes I have haha. I actually pleaded that I simply stay and sleep on the chairs if they couldn’t get rid of me, but they wouldn’t allow it…not enough “resources” aka guards to make sure this alien didn’t bolt out the doors.</p>
<p>Hmm…I like this idea. My whole family is pretty small. We don’t take up the width of a seat at all. We are short. We don’t have broad shoulders (or broad anything else). The airlines should be charging folks more to sit next to us, and us less because we are small.</p>
<p>Oh…and this goes for the luggage thing. Total family weight for four people…500 pounds…no kidding. And we still have to pay for our baggage.</p>
<p>Sequoia:</p>
<p>To balance you out, I’ve traveled to many countries but one of the most difficult countries to enter was Canada. On a business trip I made the mistake of saying the purpose of my trip was ‘work’. That set them off and sent me to the back room where the agents were in very rude and accusatory tones accusing me of “you Americans taking jobs away from Canadians”, acted as if they couldn’t believe that I, an American actually didn’t have a criminal record. In the end they confiscated my ‘tool’ (a small plastic/metal probe smaller than a popsicle stick for scoping IBM mainframes) and let me in. They returned the tool to me when I was returning back to the states and sent a customs person to ‘escort’ me to the gate. Luckily, she was nice, thought it was ridiculous, and only escorted me halfway back. From then on I used the term ‘business meeting’ instead of ‘work’ when entering Canada.</p>
<p>ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad,</p>
<p>Funny you should have that experience to do with “work”. During my studies and work life there, many of the profs we had were refugees from Hungary who had escaped in 1956, accomplished people who came to Canada to build a new life. They related that they needed to “callous and roughen up” their hands because at the time Canada was more welcoming to farmers and labourers than professionals. Apparently immigration officials looked at their hands.</p>
<p>As for crossing the border, countless times I’d cross into Vermont to go skiing with friends, where we had a weekend ski shack. The border guards didn’t care about papers and always waved us through. They did care about booze though. Wines being cheaper in Vermont we’d hide under the seats. Once in a while we’d get caught and the guards would just take them (probably to add to their own wine cellars). One thing you learned though, is that if the guard wears his hat, he’s new, a rookie, who was prone to exert his authority and we watched out for those.</p>
<p>Speaking of United, story today of a pilot too upset to fly …due to a union/management issue apparently.</p>
<p>[United</a> Flight Canceled Over Upset Pilot - AOL Money & Finance](<a href=“http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/united-flight-canceled-over-upset-pilot/20080623082709990001?icid=200100397x1204601203x1200204554]United”>http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/united-flight-canceled-over-upset-pilot/20080623082709990001?icid=200100397x1204601203x1200204554)</p>
<p>Back when there was still an iron curtain, I made a weekend trip sponsored by a Goethe Institute to Prague. I got called off the bus to explain my little suitcase. It was something my parents had given to me when we lived in Somalia and it happened to be made in Czechoslovakia.</p>
<p>Mathson got the frisk treatment when we went out to visit CMU, but that’s because he had no ID. I had to lie about his age, you don’t need ID if you are under 18, or he wouldn’t have been let on the plane at all.</p>
<p>
Actually, it’s not - it’s been litigated since 9/11.</p>
<p>Yes and Yoo wrote the torture memos. Perhaps I should have phrased it, "In our once Democratic country, based on laws and three executive branches, it was a violation of the Constitution. In our current terrorist state, it may not be.
Since I am basically free, I don’t feel a need to litigate every violation of my Constitutional Rights to the Supreme Court. However, eventually someone will.</p>
<p>Anything that has been litigated since 9/11 and is related to human rights will most likely be relitigated.</p>
<p>And Clinton was impeached for lying about a personal matter, and our government engages in amoral acts daily. Don’t talk to me about litigation.</p>
<p>You have no constitutional right to fly on a commercial airplane. You may drive or walk or ride a bike.</p>
<p>Or rent or buy my own airplane! Don’t be so low class.</p>
<p>^^Better yet, start a biotech company and write that Lear jet rental off. As soon as I learned that the CEO of my biggest holding was doing that (while his co. was still in the R&D stage), I dumped my stock. I’m glad I did. :)</p>
<p>We are apparently on a must search list…every time we fly with American…a family of 5. Last time one of the TA’s asked us if we had switched flights suddenly - one of the triggers for special treatment but alas it is the 5 of us traveling together that does it. We don’t get the SSS treatment when flying alone. It is supposed to be random; for all except us.</p>
<p>My husband gets searched almost every time he flies (business travel a lot). He has not figured out why this is the case. We always allow extra time at the airport to get to our gate…because of this.</p>
<p>Anybody else have the old (haven’t heard it for awhile) jingle running through their heads? “Fly the Friendly Skies… of United!”</p>
<p>I have a huge metal plate in my left knee. I set off the metal detectors every single time. I do not have a letter from my doctor (“it’s useless: terrorists can forge doctor letters, just plan to be searched”). I am always hand-searched.</p>
<p>I now fly wearing elastic waist pants (no metal), easy-off shoes, socks (because I end up standing around with no shoes), tank top, and no bra (because I hate being checked for underwires). It makes the search go much faster, because the only thing that sets off the metal detector is my left knee. I’m sure people think I’m flying in my pajamas.</p>
<p>The funny thing is that they’re so busy searching me they miss stuff in my luggage, like the scissors I found after the last trip ;)</p>
<p>“Or rent or buy my own airplane! Don’t be so low class.”</p>
<p>Well I did think about mentioning my friends–they have a nice fleet of exec jets and will be happy to take you about anywhere.</p>
<p>[Executive</a> Flight](<a href=“execflight.com”>http://www.execflight.com/)</p>
<p>I always get the SSSS treatment. Shrug.</p>
<p>X-raying passengers can be very profitable:
</p>
<p>[Entertainment</a> | TSA keeps the change at airport checkpoints | Seattle Times Newspaper](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2008013889_eye24.html]Entertainment”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2008013889_eye24.html)</p>
<p>The first time I passed through one of those ‘air pressure’ contraptions I nearly had a heart attack. It seemed liked an ordinary electronic security checkpoint, so the burst of air was quite a surprise. The TSA agent laughed his head off at my reaction and waved me though.</p>
<p>Wait till we have to go through the new “naked” Xrays. Yikes!</p>
<p>[New</a> Airport X-Ray Too Revealing?, New X-Ray Scanner Provides Full Body Scans That Show A Lot! - CBS News](<a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/17/eveningnews/main563797.shtml]New”>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/17/eveningnews/main563797.shtml)</p>