Places you will never go to again

The good news is that while police in the US shoot and kill more than 1,000 people a year, around 30 of them innocent bystanders, our police shoot about 3 a year and only 1 innocent person during the last 4 decades. That was a the height of the terrorist attacks in London.
Since the introduction of armed officers at airports, seaports and main railway stations in the UK. not a single shot has been fired in a public area.
As you know, our everyday police are not armed and 95% of our armed officers retire without having fired a single shot while on duty

PS. Security guards at Heathrow do not carry firearms. The guys you encountered were fairly senior police officers. Am I correct in thinking that the 'Yank' comment was more of a joke than a personal insult.?

 

I took it as a joke. My ancestry is Swedish, my understanding of British culture is based on Monty Python.

 

Mississippi

 

Paris. The Seine stinks. Venice, the same.

 

That. Not even the thought of being younger back in the day makes me feel any nostalgia for that period. Especially for people who are slightly far ahead in terms of maturity or just have a more peculiar character than others, the sheer amount of stupidity, unnecessary cruelty and childish behaviors in general were unbearable.

 

Florida.

Too afraid I'd end up lost and never found.

 

Anywhere named: Fast Eddie's, _____'s Tire Repair and Taco Shop, ____-world, ____-rama, Mesa Arizona, Ajo Arizona

 

With sadness, I have to say San Francisco California. When I was a boy, my parents used to take me there and it was fun and I have fond memories of a different time. It is now not a safe place to be. Over the last 40 years there has been an influx of people from outside the city to occupy the government, that have an agenda to promote foreign cultures, the rights of street thugs to prey on the public, the homeless, panhandlers and the chronically unemployed . A lot of these homeless people are bused to San Francisco by right wing governors in other states, who are not willing of solving social problems in their own states. The city government continues to defend the rights of professional criminals over the rights of their unfortunate victims. What ever happened to the Italian culture of hard working post gold rush citizens. It used to lovely to go to fisherman's wharf to have a nice dinner after seeing an on stage performance. You now need a bodyguard to protect yourself when you go out for dinner.

 

NYC! It’s too dirty, too many people and the whole subway system is way too confusing!

 

I have similar problems at airports because I’m on the Terror Watch List. Not me personally, but my name is and that’s all that matters. The screwed up watch list just matches names, not any personal identifying information. I have a very Irish name so I’m guessing it’s related to the IRA. I dunno.

Senator Ted Kennedy would get pulled for extra screening, too. He had some epic “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?” meltdowns at Logan Airport that made the local news. The irony is that he actually did have ties to the IRA. He was caught funding shipments of guns to Ireland when one of the boats was intercepted.

Just to show how ludicrous the list is, all you have to do to get around it is add your middle name, or even just an initial. I applied for TSA Pre-Check back in 2007 and they started adding my middle name to my tickets, so I don’t get pulled aside anymore. But the first time my daughter flew alone in 2020 they said I could go to the gate with her. When they ran my name off my driver’s license they didn’t use my middle initial and I found myself locked in a room being interrogated. I told them to run my name again with my middle initial and they let me go.

Our terror watch list is a joke. If IRA terrorist Seamus O’Malley (not my name) is on the list and wants to fly, he just has to book it under Seamus James O’Malley (or whatever his middle name is) and he’s good to go. So efficient.

 

Disney World

 

There are plenty of public restrooms I would put in that category.

 

I had an uncomfortable experience at the Edinburgh Airport. My wife attended meetings at the Queens Ferry HP Plant. We drove up from London, and stopped to pick up lead soldiers for a friend, near York. On the return trip we flew from Edinburgh to Heathrow. We went to the security scan, with the lead soldiers in my carry on. I advised the security guard about the soldiers, but she seemed distracted and did not respond. When my bag reached the scanner, lights started to flash and an alarm buzzer went nuts. Two panels on the adjoining wall opened and at least four uniformed security guards rushed out and pinned me to the wall. They padded me down as the female security guard went through my bag. She remarked be saying "There really are toy soldiers in here." The guards let go of me and brushed me off. Everything returned to normal as I boarded the plane and I started making an ulcer. The Scottish football team had great fun at my expense, as they prepared for s match at Wembley stadium.

 

Hawaii. Was there for 8 years. Loved it and have a million great stories about my time there.

Part of 67 thru 76.-- Why? I DO NOT fly any more.

 

A narcissistic yuppie's presence.

 

Sounds like you won’t be invited to any T rally’s anytime soon!