A month from tomorrow will be the 15th anniversary of 9/11, the event that, without resorting to hype, changed the world politically, diplomatically, militarily, economically and, in so many ways, in terms of our liberty.
Along with triggering what seems like ceaseless conflict in the Middle East for the last decade and half, that deadly Tuesday morning in September 2011 changed air travel forever. In America, where I was living at the time and where I saw this change happen almost overnight, air travel became more of an ordeal. Because it had to. Removing belts, shoes, sharp items and laptops became the necessary inconvenience.
Exactly yen years ago today, airports introduced urgent new restrictions on how much liquid you could take airside following the discovery of a plot to blow up US-bound airliners. Terrorists planned to use chemical explosives that could be concocted in-flight by combining liquids freely available in high street shops. As a result, all liquids, creams, gels, pastes and aerosols taken through security control as part of hand luggage have to be carried in containers holding 100ml or less, must be carried separately in a single, transparent and resealable bag no larger than 20x20cm. Anything over 100ml must be packed in hold luggage...or be thrown away.
So surely, over ten years of these restrictions, we have grown used to them? With British airports alone handling 250 million passengers a year, and budget airlines travelling to more destinations with people flying more frequently as a result, it shouldn't be a surprise to discover restrictions on what you can take through airport security.
And yet, in the 15 years since 9/11, and ten years since the Manchester bomb plot, it still staggers me that people in security queues haven't got the message. Even allowing for the fact I fly a lot and many people don't, it is still alarming to see people taking umbrage at removing belts and shoes, or only thinking about taking off overcoats when asked. Like most frequent travellers, we've grown stoic about airport security, as should everyone else - it is there, after all, for our own protection.
However, ten years since the restrictions on liquids was brought in, people are till trying to get through airport security with illicit quantities of toothpaste, deodrants, shampoo, shower gel and, yes, bottled water. According to research published today by the Manchester Aiports Group - which operates Manchester, Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports, representing about a fifth of all passengers passing through UK airports - one-in-five security trays still contain more liquid than the regulations allow.
Manchester Airport alone fills up more than 80 wheelie bins every day containing confiscated plastic bottles, and the MAG group overall says it has taken more than 140 million tonnes of bottled drinks off passengers over the last 12 months as they went through scanners. Furthermore, they said that that confusion over liquids remained the single biggest cause of security delays during peak times.
In fairness, it can be confusing, and expensive. How often do we arrive at airport security after a hot and uncomfortable journey by public transport to find that we still have some (or all) of our bottled water sill on us? Cue some industrial chugging at the screening entrance. I've seen transit passengers passing through Heathrow Airport having to discard expensive bottles of perfume bought abroad because they don't conform with UK rules on liquids.
I once had to give up a brand new can of shaving foam at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport because it was slightly sticking out of the clear bag my carry-on liquids were contained in. Less than 20 metres the other side of security, I had to fork out for the only shaving foam on sale, a luxury L'Oreal package in the duty free boutique. Ker-ching. Similarly, I also found that if you buy deodorants in American supermarkets, they come in supersized, 170ml containers, which led to me having one confiscated at Orly even though there was less than 100ml left in the container. In both experiences I learned my lesson. Other passengers, haven't, according to MAG who say they have removed bottles of HP Sauce, Marmite and snowglobes among other items from passengers at London Stanstead airport.
Some security experts have long been calling for the liquids restrictions to be lifted, arguing that terrorists are adaptable and will have long ago looked for alternative ways to see out their obsession with aviation targets. As Sky News revealed earlier this year, terrorists are highly proactive in their R&D activities (and just look at the 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid, the 'underpants bomber' Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and Al-Qaeda's toner cartridge plot in 2010 - all examples of fiendish innovation). And as the attacks in Brussels and Istanbul this year have shown, people are just as vulnerable in public, landside areas of an airport than behind the airside security screening cordon.
Aviation figures, too, have also argued that the liquid restrictions do more harm than good, and the passenger frustration - and clearly the waste highlighted by MAG today - caused by the rules outweigh the small risk that someone might try and sneak through bomb-making chemicals in their toiletries.
All are compelling arguments, of course, but isn't a small risk still enough to warrant the inconvenience? Here in Paris we now have to accept being patted down at cinemas and having our bags inspected walking into shopping malls. Soldiers are visible on the streets with as much commonality people outside office entrances smoking. It shouldn't be, but it's the way of life we have to accept to live our lives while mitigating the risks of an attack.
Having to think hard about how much shampoo one might need for a weekend away (especially in a hotel where it is supplied...) is, for me a small price to pay for my safety. And there is always the option of checking-in luggage if you do need to travel with more and (the risk of lost luggage aside) you're prepared to wait a little longer at the other end for it to turn up. For now, perhaps it just needs some education: until the airport industry outfoxes the terrorist with R&D of its own that negates the need to throw 80 wheelie bins of plastic bottles away every day, passengers need to be better informed about what they can and can't take through airport. After all, they've only had a decade to learn why.
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