Bagged
So New Yorkers will now have to submit to random bag searches on the subways. In our fight against terrorism, we are losing one more bit of freedom.
I say that with sadness, but not opposition. It's impossible not to ride the subways these days and not think how vulnerable they are to terrorist attack; it's a small miracle that nothing has happened so far. We not only allow, we encourage bag searches on airplanes. Why not subways?
The only problem, of course, is that random bag searches often aren't random at all; if you're a backpack-toting tourist from Pakistan, odds are you're going to spend some time with your friendly New York policeman.
I know I should be upset about that, too, but I can't say that I am. Given who's committing acts of terrorism these days, and the sheer impossibility of inspecting everyone's bag, it only makes sense to do some profiling of potential searchees. Let's just hope that the search process is carried out with some sensitivity, so that we don't wind up needlessly humiliating people who've done absolutely nothing wrong.
But let there be some logic to this process, as well. I remember how, after 9/11, the Yankees banned the carrying of bags into the Stadium. In reality, men were forced to check their bags, no matter how small, at a bar across the street. Women could carry in purses of virtually any size....
