I am in New-York for the week, for pleasure. So my curiosity brings me face to Liberty Island, and of course, ticket in hand I go for the ferry.
Before boarding goes the whole security measures thing that are now everywhere in NY it seems. I understand how two planes crashing in two of your biggest towers can bring a certain feeling of insecurity, and even if I don’t particularly appreciate those measures, I am civilized enough to comply. Of course “no weapons allowed” makes me smile when I am in the country by excellence where firearms are legal and can be purchased in drugstores… When it does not make me smile anymore is when my multifunction pocket knife is now tagged as “a weapon”, I personally can hardly consider that small pliers and retractable tools thing a “weapon”, the knife part is hardly as wide as my hand and can barely cut a slice of bread… Honestly you should check my hands; they are by far a more efficient “weapon”…
Anyway, I can check my pocket knife and get it back on my way back (like I did for the empire state building yesterday) right? Well guess again! Not here, no sir, not for the ferry to Liberty Island you can’t… I had the nice lady striping me down get an officer who told me (looking at my knife like it was a war machine) “Sir, you cannot board with this, and if I take it you won’t get it back…” (why is that, it falls into a dark portal beyond the twilight zone?)
Amazing, this occurred right in front of the statue of liberty. Does they know “liberty” (liberté) means freedom in French?
Well one thing I know for sure, stupidity (stupidité) means the same both in English and French…
Note on terrorism: USA was one of the last occidental countries to be hit. I was in France in the years of “TERROR!!” (well of course French people never used such a dramatic word) 10 to 15 years ago, when bombs were exploding in the subway on a monthly basis, or were found in front of schools, department stores and such… I lived thru that, probably did not hit CNN as much as 11/09, but overall the toll in human life was close to the WTC tragedy. So I understand “security”, but I still can’t excuse stupidity…
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