I haven't flown in about three years, not because I'm afraid of flying, but because the whole experience had gotten so darned inconvenient and uncomfortable. I truly empathize with those who have to fly routinely, especially today.

I flew to Europe a couple of times in the mid-70s, after the terrorist attack on the Munich Olympics. What we are experiencing now was routine in European airports even then. It was not unusual to be selected at random for a pat-down search, for example.

It's a bad old world out there. We in the US are only beginning to get the picture.