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thoughts on 'aiming for the head'
Aug. 4th, 2005 04:12 pmThe news that the odds of my getting shot in the head have increased is not particularly cheering.
In the coming six weeks, I shall be travelling through major airports, wearing a backpack, and possibly running to get to my flight gate before it closes, leaving me stranded. That this may get me shot in the head is definitely not a happy thought.
Granted, I'm Asian, and not Middle Eastern, but my skin is definitely olive and my hair is black - and who's going to look that closely if they think I'm a threat to be taken out? Even the fact that I speak good English might not have an impact - after all the London bombers on July 7th were people who'd been bred in England. I might very well be one of the same ilk.
And as for "reasonable basis'' - well, who defines 'reasonable'? The man with the gun, right? The one who feels he has the weight of care of all the people in the public space on his shoulders. And, hey, they were wrong with the guy in London who got popped seven times in the head.
I'm very aware that this is a silly line of thought. In all probabililty I will make it back home without having my head blown off by a security-nervous, trigger-happy cop; but I'm still going to feel bloody itchy in the back of the neck every time I go out with my backpack.
In the coming six weeks, I shall be travelling through major airports, wearing a backpack, and possibly running to get to my flight gate before it closes, leaving me stranded. That this may get me shot in the head is definitely not a happy thought.
Granted, I'm Asian, and not Middle Eastern, but my skin is definitely olive and my hair is black - and who's going to look that closely if they think I'm a threat to be taken out? Even the fact that I speak good English might not have an impact - after all the London bombers on July 7th were people who'd been bred in England. I might very well be one of the same ilk.
And as for "reasonable basis'' - well, who defines 'reasonable'? The man with the gun, right? The one who feels he has the weight of care of all the people in the public space on his shoulders. And, hey, they were wrong with the guy in London who got popped seven times in the head.
I'm very aware that this is a silly line of thought. In all probabililty I will make it back home without having my head blown off by a security-nervous, trigger-happy cop; but I'm still going to feel bloody itchy in the back of the neck every time I go out with my backpack.
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