i haven't traveled in a while, so when i went on a recent trip this past week, i wasn't sure what the experience would be like in light of the recent threats in london, etc.
i had heard that 'no liquids' would be allowed on the plane. i was only on a trip for overnight, so i just had a change of clothes and my overnight kit (which has toothpaste). so i decided to ask if it needed to be checked...i was assured it did, so i checked it.
as i browse through the airport i see tons of people with their carry-on suitcases which surely have some type of overnight items in it?!?! i am about to generalize, but i think it is a pretty fair assumption, but i did see several women with suitcases board a plane. c'mon -- have you met a woman who doesn't at least have some form of gel, spray, make-up, liquid, etc. that they travel with? i'm convinced that if i didn't ask, nobody would have said anything.
when i walked through the airport, the impact of the policy was clear as depicted in a few photos here:
this is the sign posted all over the place. i took this picture at 'the body shop' whose #1 selling product is soap:
needless to say the 5 times i passed the store, not a soul was even in there -- heck the warning signs they seemingly were required to display were larger than any sale or brand sign in their entire shop. perhaps the funniest one i saw was on all the water stands:
you can see the sign right above the water sales. yeah, i know you may want to drink it before you get on the plane, but you can see the rack is fully stocked, and nobody was buying drinks wherever i went (outside of the restaurant areas). it was very interesting to see the impact of the security on retail within these locations.