August 14th 2012
Charles De Gaule airport, Paris.

Today I went through the most painful traveling experience of my life. Before getting my boarding pass and while standing in line, I was asked three times,.by three different American Airlines security officers, to answer the same security questions..
After that, I was told to follow one officer who escorted me to the security screening area where my belongings.were.methodically.inspected. A nail clipper was removed from my bag, and the reason for it was explained: for security..
Once this inspection was finished, I was told to be at the boarding gate at 9am (my flight was at 10am). At 8:55am my name was called on the speakers. I showed up at the gate and I was notified that my seat, for security reasons, had been changed. I didn't understand why this change happened, but I chose not to question anything..
At 9am, my name was called again. This time an inspector was waiting for me to do an additional inspection of my belongings..
I am a photographer, and I carry my cameras, lenses and accessories in a hard suitcase. One of these accessories is a small bottle of lens cleaner liquid, that has some level of inflammability. The bottle was removed and the reason was explained, inflammable liquids of any kind are not allow on board. No problem, I understood.


Then I went inside de airplane, sat down, turn my head around, and to my surprise, I saw a passenger pulling out a bottle of Absenta from his handbag. .
The Absenta liquor is 75% alcohol and definitely inflammable. A bottle made of glass can be used as a dangerous weapon if broken…
I was concerned about this facts, since they were an obvious security threat for everybody on the flight, so I decided to stand up and call the security supervisor to warn him about this..
His reply was that the bottle I saw inside the airplane was purchased on the duty free area and therefore it had passed an inspection...
When I tried to explain that the threat was not for the content itself but for the potential danger that the broken bottle would be for the passengers, aside the obvious danger of the inflammability of the liquid it contained, I was told that because of my thoughts, he was becoming frightened, and that I had to leave the aircraft.

I lost my flight, I had to stay overnight at the airport, and I had to purchase a new ticket with a different carrier, that cost me $1400.
I am in London today and I hear my name being called every time there is an announcement. It's not really my name, it is paranoia, airport security paranoia.

I can deal with the fact that I lost time, money and health, but I can't understand the logic behind these facts: nail clippers, no, glass bottles of Absenta, yes. I don't want to think that they jeopardize our security for the sake of profit, but I can't see any other explanation.

I am in London today (heading to my original destination) and I hear my name being called every time there is an announcement. It's not really my name, it is paranoia, airport security paranoia.

Dando Valle