Two years ago I contemplated the changes to the aviation industry & reflected (after my third "random" bag search & chemical test & all-over, shoe-removing, jacket-absenting, 'is this your bag, you dark-eyed prospective terrorist, you?' interrogation) *ahem* reflected that flight was becoming increasingly difficult for the average punter. I wondered what it was going to do to the world, the new world order of aviation. I anticipated that it would build thicker, dumber clans, all of us stuck in unwanted land-locked loyalties.

That was two years ago. It's worse now.

Worse, as I squeeze moisturiser & hand cream into tiny bottles, as I pack my duty free purchases into my suitcases & pray they're treated with dignity & care by the baggage handlers (ha!), as I contemplate the increased need to rely on airline staff to feed and -- more importantly -- to water its clientele so we can take our vitamins and medications and not have our livers fall over from lack of clean, normal, non-threatening water.

Oh, & I won't be making jokes about terrorism in the airport. EVEN THOUGH I have a sneaking suspicion our myriad anti-terrorist attempts are a giant waste of time, an artificial method of manufacturing a sense that we are still masters of our domain (we aren't). No, I won't be making jokes about terrorism even though the new security regulations are, indeed, a joke.

And we, cattle-class, economy-affording masses, who were already being made to feel like battle-weary warriors in our 'slimline' seats, trapped in mid-air, victims of a monopoly of service that turns out, inevitably, to be mediocre at best (I excuse Air Canada from this equation because Air Canada actually had excellent service when I flew with them & actually, Cathay Pacific was pretty good, too. But not the others), we are the ones who will continue to lose out. I hate the humiliation of air travel.

That, and the carpet.