The Test Before The End
So I got my ticket home, and I boarded my flight, but I did not get home before another final ordeal. Anyway if things would have went well, I would not have anything to write about in this blog!
I made to Paris, two hours late, because of a delay to my flight from San Paolo, but I had plenty of time til my next flight, so I wasn't worried, at the contrary, it meant less waiting time between the flights. I showed up at 8 to the El Desk to check in, 2 1/2 hours before my flight to Tel-Aviv. Not surprisingly they decided I was a high security risk, and had to go though strict security checks; five security guys got busy with me and my luggage, checking every item, in fact it seemed I was the sole concern of the El-Al security staff, that evening. After an hour they got to my Nike tennis shoes and that seemed to trigger some alarms, I could hear the frantic discussions from behind the curtain were they ran my stuff through the x-ray and explosive detectors. Then when the problem with my Nike shoes seemed to be resolved, another heated discussion started, it seemed to revolve around my laptop charger, a charger that I had opened once in the past to fix, and closed it again using electric tape, and it was clear that it was opened and fiddled with. This time the head of security decided to call the french police and ordered a complete evacuation of the area.
Everybody left their posts in the El-Al area, even the check in desks were abandoned. Luckily for the rest of the passengers, they had already been checked in; I and a french women were the only remaining passengers. Eventually they decided to let the french women aboard the plane, but without her luggage (I don't think they told her that her luggage was staying). I was told to wait, I told the head of security that if the problem was the laptop charger, that we could just throw it away, that I would buy a new one when I get home, that they would just let me on the flight. My offer was not accepted, I knew by then that I was not going on that flight, and accepted my destiny. Eventually the french police arrived, with a couple of bomb experts, who took apart my laptop charger, checked some other items in my bag, ran my shows through X-ray and explosive detectors (again), asked me to follow them around airport. And of course after finding nothing in the end, they left. One of the french policemen was of Algerian descend, I could tell from his complexion and some of the words he uttered while talking on his cell phone, I asked him what was his name, it was Karim.
First I was told that I was going to be put on the next El-Al flight, which was set to leave at 7 in the morning. But then they changed their minds and told me that I would be leaving on an air France flight at 10:30 in the morning. Until that moment I decided to use the patience strategy; let them do their work and eventually they will find nothing wrong and let me on the flight, my approach had failed, I totally underestimated their paranoia of Arabic people. So I decided it was time for a change of approach, and also a time to draw a line; what is the difference between leaving at 7 or at 10:30 you might ask, I don't know, I just felt I had to draw a line somewhere. I told them that I was not going to wait tell 10:30, that I did not want any hotel voucher, that I wanted to leave on the first possible flight, I demanded it in fact, even cursed one person when he said no, the answer was still NO, my protestations were fruitless. So I tried the pleading approach instead, I talked to this young man with a black shirt, who I had a nice conversation with earlier about my travels in South America. I pleaded my case to him, told him that I was very patient during the whole security check process, and that I did not deserve to be rewarded like this. He went in and talked to the head of security and managed to convince him to let me on the 7 o'clock flight. The head of security tried to apologize for the state of my charger as well, I told him not to worry about it, that a technician could fix it in five minutes, and it was more important for me to get on the flight.
I though that was the end of the matter, but I was so wrong; it was midnight by then, but the security staff continued to work until 2 o'clock, checking the rest of my stuff. This convinced that it is a case of paranoia rather than a case of racial harassment; the flight had left at 22:30 but the security staff stayed 4 hours beyond that, just to check all my stuff, according with procedures as I was told, I doubt somebody would work four hours extra time to harass somebody else. In the end I was told that all is fine, but I that I would not be allowed to take my laptop with me on the same flight, that it would arrive on the following flight, and then be send back to my home, I should have just taken that air France flight offer, but no, I had to make point, I thought in self rapprochement. Since check in was not about to start for a couple of more hours, I had to just wait in the airport lobby, I should have taken that hotel offer as well; I reproached my self further; there was no where to sleep in the lobby, all the seats where designed for setting only, and were not comfortable for laying down, and all my luggage were left locked in the security room, so I could not take out my sleeping bag or anything. I had a couple of hours to think about the problem of not being able to take the laptop with me, and I decided I was not comfortable with the idea, but at the same time I was weary of fighting, and I did not want to start another testosterone charged argument with the head of security. Still I did not want to fly without my laptop either; I did not want my laptop to arrive several days latter; I could not imagine being without my laptop for a few days. I was also worried about how it would be handled, so I decided to plead my case when the head of security comes back, but to do it in a resigned manner, I was in fact resigned to missing on this flight as well!
After two hours of uncomfortable and anxious waiting, the deserted El-Al area came to life again. I told the head of security that I can't fly without my laptop, told him about my concerns, I did it in a wary tone of someone who is tired of fighting but still can't accept what he was being offered. Just speaking out my concerns though seem to alleviate them, and the head of security as well assured me that my laptop would be well handled, and that it will be on the next flight, and that I would receive it at my home quite soon. Then he offered me a cup of coffee, and asked one of his young guys to explain the procedures and regulations to me. I asked him if the regulation was that Arabic people are not allowed to carry laptops on flights? He said it was not only Arabic people, but he did not sound convincing. Anyway I decided I would go on the flight, and cross my fingers that my laptop would arrive safe, and that it would arrive soon. As for the state of the charger, I would know when I got it back.
I was allowed to board the flight, but I had to check in all my luggage, including my ipod, I was only allowed to carry a book with me. I was assigned a young security guy at all time, who accompanied me until I boarded the plane. I had a discussion with him about high tech jobs, and my travels in South America, and he was interested when I told him I keep a blog of my travels, and asked me for the web address. He also asked if I was going to write about my ordeal, and whether it was going to be positive or negative.
It is amazing sometime that we notice things that have been there all along, but we had failed to see them; In the first page of my passport the following text is written, both in Hebrew and English: "The Minister of Interior of the State of Israel hereby requests all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer of this passport to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford him such assistance and protection as maybe necessary." It seems El-Al personal pay little attention to the words of their own interior minister! Until yesterday I did not pay much attention to what was written there.
Generally when a company treats you badly, you can always threaten them with not using their services again. But it seems El-Al would rather transfer an Arabic guy with gadgets to air France, and probably loose money, rather than allow him to go on their flight with his laptop. In front of that kind of attitude their is really little to do. Generally I avoid flying with El-Al, but after being stuck for several weeks in Bolivia, I just wanted to get home, and I took what ever reasonably priced flight was available at the time; I did not give the El-Al issue much thought frankly, but this experience guarantees that next time I buy a ticket, I will do my best to avoid flying with El-Al again.
I made to Paris, two hours late, because of a delay to my flight from San Paolo, but I had plenty of time til my next flight, so I wasn't worried, at the contrary, it meant less waiting time between the flights. I showed up at 8 to the El Desk to check in, 2 1/2 hours before my flight to Tel-Aviv. Not surprisingly they decided I was a high security risk, and had to go though strict security checks; five security guys got busy with me and my luggage, checking every item, in fact it seemed I was the sole concern of the El-Al security staff, that evening. After an hour they got to my Nike tennis shoes and that seemed to trigger some alarms, I could hear the frantic discussions from behind the curtain were they ran my stuff through the x-ray and explosive detectors. Then when the problem with my Nike shoes seemed to be resolved, another heated discussion started, it seemed to revolve around my laptop charger, a charger that I had opened once in the past to fix, and closed it again using electric tape, and it was clear that it was opened and fiddled with. This time the head of security decided to call the french police and ordered a complete evacuation of the area.
Everybody left their posts in the El-Al area, even the check in desks were abandoned. Luckily for the rest of the passengers, they had already been checked in; I and a french women were the only remaining passengers. Eventually they decided to let the french women aboard the plane, but without her luggage (I don't think they told her that her luggage was staying). I was told to wait, I told the head of security that if the problem was the laptop charger, that we could just throw it away, that I would buy a new one when I get home, that they would just let me on the flight. My offer was not accepted, I knew by then that I was not going on that flight, and accepted my destiny. Eventually the french police arrived, with a couple of bomb experts, who took apart my laptop charger, checked some other items in my bag, ran my shows through X-ray and explosive detectors (again), asked me to follow them around airport. And of course after finding nothing in the end, they left. One of the french policemen was of Algerian descend, I could tell from his complexion and some of the words he uttered while talking on his cell phone, I asked him what was his name, it was Karim.
First I was told that I was going to be put on the next El-Al flight, which was set to leave at 7 in the morning. But then they changed their minds and told me that I would be leaving on an air France flight at 10:30 in the morning. Until that moment I decided to use the patience strategy; let them do their work and eventually they will find nothing wrong and let me on the flight, my approach had failed, I totally underestimated their paranoia of Arabic people. So I decided it was time for a change of approach, and also a time to draw a line; what is the difference between leaving at 7 or at 10:30 you might ask, I don't know, I just felt I had to draw a line somewhere. I told them that I was not going to wait tell 10:30, that I did not want any hotel voucher, that I wanted to leave on the first possible flight, I demanded it in fact, even cursed one person when he said no, the answer was still NO, my protestations were fruitless. So I tried the pleading approach instead, I talked to this young man with a black shirt, who I had a nice conversation with earlier about my travels in South America. I pleaded my case to him, told him that I was very patient during the whole security check process, and that I did not deserve to be rewarded like this. He went in and talked to the head of security and managed to convince him to let me on the 7 o'clock flight. The head of security tried to apologize for the state of my charger as well, I told him not to worry about it, that a technician could fix it in five minutes, and it was more important for me to get on the flight.
I though that was the end of the matter, but I was so wrong; it was midnight by then, but the security staff continued to work until 2 o'clock, checking the rest of my stuff. This convinced that it is a case of paranoia rather than a case of racial harassment; the flight had left at 22:30 but the security staff stayed 4 hours beyond that, just to check all my stuff, according with procedures as I was told, I doubt somebody would work four hours extra time to harass somebody else. In the end I was told that all is fine, but I that I would not be allowed to take my laptop with me on the same flight, that it would arrive on the following flight, and then be send back to my home, I should have just taken that air France flight offer, but no, I had to make point, I thought in self rapprochement. Since check in was not about to start for a couple of more hours, I had to just wait in the airport lobby, I should have taken that hotel offer as well; I reproached my self further; there was no where to sleep in the lobby, all the seats where designed for setting only, and were not comfortable for laying down, and all my luggage were left locked in the security room, so I could not take out my sleeping bag or anything. I had a couple of hours to think about the problem of not being able to take the laptop with me, and I decided I was not comfortable with the idea, but at the same time I was weary of fighting, and I did not want to start another testosterone charged argument with the head of security. Still I did not want to fly without my laptop either; I did not want my laptop to arrive several days latter; I could not imagine being without my laptop for a few days. I was also worried about how it would be handled, so I decided to plead my case when the head of security comes back, but to do it in a resigned manner, I was in fact resigned to missing on this flight as well!
After two hours of uncomfortable and anxious waiting, the deserted El-Al area came to life again. I told the head of security that I can't fly without my laptop, told him about my concerns, I did it in a wary tone of someone who is tired of fighting but still can't accept what he was being offered. Just speaking out my concerns though seem to alleviate them, and the head of security as well assured me that my laptop would be well handled, and that it will be on the next flight, and that I would receive it at my home quite soon. Then he offered me a cup of coffee, and asked one of his young guys to explain the procedures and regulations to me. I asked him if the regulation was that Arabic people are not allowed to carry laptops on flights? He said it was not only Arabic people, but he did not sound convincing. Anyway I decided I would go on the flight, and cross my fingers that my laptop would arrive safe, and that it would arrive soon. As for the state of the charger, I would know when I got it back.
I was allowed to board the flight, but I had to check in all my luggage, including my ipod, I was only allowed to carry a book with me. I was assigned a young security guy at all time, who accompanied me until I boarded the plane. I had a discussion with him about high tech jobs, and my travels in South America, and he was interested when I told him I keep a blog of my travels, and asked me for the web address. He also asked if I was going to write about my ordeal, and whether it was going to be positive or negative.
It is amazing sometime that we notice things that have been there all along, but we had failed to see them; In the first page of my passport the following text is written, both in Hebrew and English: "The Minister of Interior of the State of Israel hereby requests all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer of this passport to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford him such assistance and protection as maybe necessary." It seems El-Al personal pay little attention to the words of their own interior minister! Until yesterday I did not pay much attention to what was written there.
Generally when a company treats you badly, you can always threaten them with not using their services again. But it seems El-Al would rather transfer an Arabic guy with gadgets to air France, and probably loose money, rather than allow him to go on their flight with his laptop. In front of that kind of attitude their is really little to do. Generally I avoid flying with El-Al, but after being stuck for several weeks in Bolivia, I just wanted to get home, and I took what ever reasonably priced flight was available at the time; I did not give the El-Al issue much thought frankly, but this experience guarantees that next time I buy a ticket, I will do my best to avoid flying with El-Al again.
posted by DiagonalMind at
10:20 AM
