Cheese Latest Carryon Victim

Posted by Bridget Lux Nov 26, 2006

The Paris airport has recently banned soft cheeses from carry on luggage, according to a Dow Jones report. Apparently, the European Union has put together a list of banned substances and although cheese isn’t specifically mentioned, a spokeswoman said that the rules cover “liquid-solid mixtures,” which could include cheeses such as Roquefort, Camembert and Brie.

Since it was the European Union that put the list together, one would assume that the rules would apply across Europe. It’s not clear why the report singles out Paris. That said, a friend of mine recently flew up to Paris for the day and was asked if she had any soft cheeses at the Paris airport. She was not asked in Nice. Generally speaking, life on the Riviera is a bit more laid back than that in Paris, but you’d think the carry on rules would be the same.

So, as someone who will be flying to Brussels in a couple weeks and then Paris and onto the States in early January, I’m wondering about the rules. Now, I didn’t have any intention of smuggling a wheel of Roquefort to Idaho, but the rules are just becoming ridiculous. On my last flight over the Atlantic, I brought only my laptop, camera, a book, money, a credit card and my passport. Not a single ounce of liquid or gel. I didn’t try to smuggle any sort of deadly weapon, such as a fingernail file or clippers. I wore flip flops. Basically, I did everything I could to comply with the rules without allowing the airport personnel to toss my camera and laptop – my livelihood – onto a conveyor belt.

My backpack, the airline guy said, was too big. I’ve brought that backpack on every flight I’ve been on since I got it a couple of years ago. It’s got a lot of padding to protect my laptop and camera and it fits under the seat. Nope. Not flying with that backpack, he said, you’ll have to check it. I wanted to tell him that the only way he or any other airline employee would be touching my laptop is to pry it from my cold, dead hands, but I restrained. He could see it in my eyes. He brought me a thin, plaid bag that seemed closer to a grocery sack than something I’d want to put my laptop into, but I did it. What choice does a person have? Not get on the plane?

The real question, however, is this: Do the airline officials or whoever is making these rules really think they’ll quell terrorism? Seems to me that if a terrorist group really wants to do something, a rule banning Brie isn’t going to deter them.