Imagine this, if you will.  Just 25 minutes from parking at the airport to arriving at your departure gate … and that after passing through six levels of security.  Sound like a dream?  Not in Israel.  The complete process is described in this handy article by Rafi Sela, president of AR Challenges, a global transportation security consultancy.  It's all done by looking passengers in the eye and making sophisticiated risk assessments at each step of the way.

Sounds simple enough.  Naturally we'd like to know why we can't achieve the same level of efficiency at our own airports, instead of spending three hours in tedious, infuriating and somewhat intrusive security checks before we get anywhere close to boarding our flight.  In Sela's opinion it's because "... Canadians are nice people and they will do anything because they were told to do so and because they don't know any different."  Ha.  Maybe the Prime Minister has secretly been consulting Mr. Sela all along.  His pithy one-liner could just as well be applied to describe what passes for Canadian democracy these days.
 

It would be a  fascinating social exercise to see if North Americans could adapt to this.  I think it would be hard.  As a society we have turned against our greatest attribute, human instinct and raw skill.  We seem inherently believe that technology can replace human ability. 

What we are seeing with this example, however, is technology augmenting human ability.  Employees at all levels are taught to follow their gut.....what is the worst that could happen?  (They put a bag in an explosive proof box which turns out to to be  explosive free????)....they are taught to trust their instinct not fear it and there is a certain calm to that......

In North America, such primal abilities are supressed and we see it everywhere. Strangely, this is happening not only in our airports and with security but also with our healthcare and more recently, we see this rearing it's head in the public service....

I am so angry about these new X-ray, see-through scanners they are installing at nine Canadian airports, I could spit! And no one else seems the least bit concerned - THIS IS A DIRECT AFFRONT ON OUR PRIVACY, PEOPLE!!! Wake up - they won't make a blind bit of difference to our security and yet they will make some of us reconsider travelling by plane ever again. I for one don't want Buddy behind the screen seeing exactly how thick my love handles are. Rant over. The End.  

I think Canadians wouldn't mind the wait and the levels of security screening, etc., if we thought it would make us safer.  But I've been through MTL airport too many times to see the security (guys) lulled by the easiest bat of a feminine eye lash and the sashay of a curvy female passenger.  Seriously! 

It would be funny -- if it wasn't potentially dangerous. 

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