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The Joys of Travelling in the Modern Way By Mike Lushington

The title of this week's column is somewhat sardonic. I must confess either to that or to a rather broad masochistic streak. Let me explain.              Time was when I considered air travel as an expedient way of getting from one place to another. I have never been one of those who feared flying; on the other hand I never found it to be a particularly enjoyable experience. Most of the time, my flights hither and yon were convenient, efficient, and forgettable. I can remember trips with athletic teams that involved moving large amounts of equipment - ski bags, wax boxes and other paraphernalia, as well as personal luggage - with very few hitches. When problems did occur, they were resolved quickly - and courteously.              Times have changed, largely because of the insane activities of a handful of religious and political fanatics who chose airplanes as their weapons of protest, and because of what most sensible people have begun to realize has been a massive overreaction to those fanatics. I wrote about the perils of trying to transport firearms last week, especially when airline inefficiency combines with rules that seemingly cannot admit that there just might be a difference between rifles being transported, in full compliance with those sometimes preposterous regulations by vetted, formal organizations, and those that just might be suspect. What I did not have space for in that column was the opportunity to vent my own frustration and anger over the subtle implications of those who were charged with transporting our legitimate sporting equipment that, in some vague way, we were participants in a shady and somewhat disreputable activity.              I am no professional in psychology but I do know that one trick that oppressors use against their victims is to convince the victims that, in some way, they are responsible for their plight. It was, it would seem, our own fault for the problems we encountered, despite our every effort to comply with endless, and sometimes even contradictory, regulations.However, that situation pales in comparison to the treatment that our cadets endured on their own return from Whitehorse after the Cadet National Biathlon Championships which took place two weeks after our Canada Games experience.              Like us, the cadets were scheduled to fly out of Whitehorse on a charter flight to New Brunswick. Like us, they ran into some problems with weather and with crowds. Unlike us, though, they were deposited in Edmondton while the airlines attempted to adjust schedules to deal with backlogs. They sat in Edmonton for five days! Apparently, Air Canada, our so-called national airline (the one that our governments have been bailing out of one financial mess after another for the past few decades), decided that the cadets were just kids, after all, and therefore not deserving of any particular consideration, even the simple one of being allowed their own place in the queues that were constantly forming to get flights back home. Even more frustrating to those back home, as well as those stranded, was the lack of accurate information about what was actually occurring. "Tomorrow ... tomorrow ... tomorrow" seemed to be the operative word, together with "maybe".              I don't like being lied to. I don't like being treated like an incompetent child or, worse, an inconvenient annoyance. I don't like being herded like some poor bovine. But mostly, I don't like being subjected to all of the above while being assured that, after all, it is only for my own good. Oh, yes, I will fly again, as occasion warrants, but no one is going to covince me that I am flying "the friendly airlines."