Mike Godwin may be joining me on the righteous indignation bench. He's frustrated that movie theaters are now prohibiting patrons from bringing in backpacks.
I've long been frustrated by the no-backback bans at many sporting events. Some have been relaxed since they were implemented in a post-9/11 flurry of paranoia. But others persist in their mandatory stupidity. I'm not sure which bothers me more: that I can't bring in my backpack, or that the policy is so useless. I'd be slightly annoyed, sure, if I couldn't bring in a backpack because it was actually dangerous. But it's maddening - and excessively depressing - to be forced to comply with small-mindedness.
I commiserated on his blog with the following recommendation:
What is it about backpacks - and only backpacks - that inspires such fear? I too carry backpacks everywhere, and I can't see what is achieved by their ban other than my inconvenience. Why should a backpack be so much more threatening than any other satchel? Is there something about having TWO straps, instead of just one or handles, that somehow uniquely presents some heightened danger?Anyway, in the future you might try one of the Jedi mindtricks I've taken to using to circumvent pointless post-9/11 security measures like these: I carry a small mesh bag with me inside the backpack. Out of visual range, I take everything out of the backpack and put it in the mesh bag. Then I roll up the backpack and put it into the mesh bag too. I then am able to carry it all in with me - same stuff - unimpeded.
Because, you know, it's so much safer this way....