Celebrity Sighting 2

So, this time I saw a REAL celebrity in the airport. Last time, as many of you know I saw that freak Clay Aiken and caught a ration of shit from the crazies who love him and think he is some new Pagan God.

This time I saw Don Cheadle in the Admiral's Club in LAX. The guy looked like he wanted to be left alone, otherwise I would have said hello and mentioned that my wife's company does good work in the third world, including Rwanda and that I thought he was robbed in the Oscar hunt. I'm guessing he was out promoting his new movie with Adam Sandler as he was on Jimmy Kimmel that night or the next.

Ugly Americans

I constantly hear when we Americans travel abroad that we are the "ugly americans." However, I have encountered a number of Europeans lately who (and I do NOT want to generalize all Europeans this way) are some of the most misguided and pompous people I have met. They've accused us as being racist, conformist, misguided, etc. Meanwhile, while telling me we're racist they scream about, "ARABS, ARABS, ARABS who want to take over!"

The issue that we discussed at length was the banning of religious symbols in French schools. I am a privately religious person who believes in the right of my fellow man to decide his own path. I try to live the cliche "I don't agree with you but I will fight to the death to defend your right to believe that."

So, I was told that children should "not be allowed" to wear turbans, burkhas, crosses, yarmulkes, etc. in schools because it promotes freedom for the individual. I have no idea how denying choice to the individual does so. It seems to me that allowing people to express their religion or thoughts in a public arena (without imposing those beliefs on others) is one of the cornerstones of a free society.

Personally, I believe that Europe is so obsessed with maintaining and protecting an antiquated European Cultural Ideal that they do not have room for other ideas. The U.S. is not perfect by any means, but at least our system is set up to protect the individual and their expression through law instead of forcing them to conform. It's ironic though how the Europeans feel that our system forces conformity.

To be honest, I think they're upset because they can't waltz through our country whenever they want, are faced with views that they disagree with, and are presented with a multitude of cultures that carry the weight of nearly 300 million people. I would humbly suggest that they learn a thing or two about the right to free religion and expression. This is one area I know that we, as Americans, are light years ahead.

Let's Go to the Airport

So I travel for work. A lot. There are weeks when I feel like I'm living in the airport. As such, I have a system for getting through security. My phone and keys have a place in my brief case (and are placed there as soon as I am out of the car), I know when I need my ID, I know what to do with my laptop, shoes, and jacket. I even have the liquids thing figured out. As a result, when there isn't a line I breeze through and am back together quickly.

While I don't agree that the measures at these checkpoints do any good, I live with it because I have to. However, I've noticed a lot of people who seem to show up at the airport and I want to ask them, "Did you know you were getting on a plane today??"

So many fellow travellers show up with more shit in their pockets than I thought humanly possible. They wait until they get in line and then they're pulling out phones and change and belts and moneyclips and lighters and pocket knives and pens and PDAs and Crapberrys and Starbuck's cups and small children. It's like another dimension in their pockets and they always seem to have forgotten that none of it can go through the metal detector. While they're pulling it all out, they look up while mouth breathing and ask, "Do I have to take my shoes off?"

Get a clue, please! We're all in it together at the airport, stay alert and organized. Don't have your pockets filled. Please get out of my way, I'm grumpy in the airport and all I want is to get to the Admiral's Club as quickly as possible.

On another note, the amoount of noise pollution at airports just keeps getting worse. They're putting in tile floors (so the sound bounces), playing CNN at full blast, making gate announcements, making security announcements, and playing Muzak on the planes as you get on. Delta, why the hell do you think Michael Bolton is going to relax me? If anything, you're adding to my tension. Thanks!