Another Monday and I don’t have to travel to the airport. I think of that fact every now and then, just to put a smile on my face. You have to understand that I didn’t have a fear of flying or dread of a terrorist attack. It was the terrible dull and boring routine of travel that I came to dislike so much. Go stand in line, wait. Boarding pass and photo ID please. Go here. Go there. And then another line, wait some more and then another…Where’s the luggage? Please wait. I knew the tricks needed to circumvent most, but not all of the lines. I had Frequent Flier cards with all of the airlines and I had Preferred status at Avis. After a while “Travel” became a job of its own and my work day began as soon as the blue shuttle van pulled up in front of the house; where I had been waiting of course.
Upon further consideration, I think the reason for my distaste for the whole flying experience was the fact that I lost my individuality for the duration of the trip. I was forced into being one of the herd. Mass transit systems of any kind do not tolerate non conformists well. And non conformists have the same feelings in regard to the system.
Now there is a word (non conformist) that I haven’t seen used recently. It was used quite frequently in the 60’s to describe those who wouldn’t go along and get along. Those who lived in the herd used the word pejoratively and those who were non conformists, reveled in it. Much the same thing is happening today with the word “liberal”. Today’s herd dwellers always try to paint a picture of evil when using that word. I guess they do that to reassure themselves that somehow, they have made all of the right choices and deserve to belong to the herd. For me, being called a non conformist liberal would be high praise indeed.
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