Are we approaching the limit?

So, earlier today I had posted a rant about the fact that you couldn't take baby formula on airplanes, etc, etc, etc. My techno wizard Grandma emailed me to inform me that you can, in fact, take formula on the airplane, as well as containerized breast milk, prescription medication (assuming it's in a container marked with your name), insulin and other essential non-prescription medication - so my rant was foiled, at least in that sense. However, my comment below, still stands:

What if a grandparent wants to fly to see his grandchildren? If they’re required to travel out of country, it’ll cost a fortune for the travel insurance. If they’re traveling in the country, maybe that grandparent is required to be on oxygen? I would imagine the airline security people would have a problem with a “mysterious” tank, seeing as how I spoke to a woman only yesterday who was about 70 years old and had just flown from Chicago the morning after the announcement and was forced to leave behind a bottle of Chanel perfume (which retails for $80.00CAD for 1.7 oz) and two Chanel lipsticks (which cost $23.50 per tube) because they could be “liquid explosives”. Granted, an oxygen tank is deemed an essential medical device, but I can bet that if that elderly person wasn't Caucasian, there'd be a big fuss about letting him on-board.

What's next? Soon you'll have to pay even higher insurance premiums if you're flying because insurance companies can claim that their risks are too great to not up the cost of premiums. If we continue in the same manner, it won't be long before they won't allow luggage on the plane altogether. Soon you'll see countries full of recluse individuals, too scared to fly or too inconvenienced because they can’t even take a tube of chapstick on the plane with them.

What’s my beef? Two things: 1) I'm bowling in the Canadian National Mixed Championship Tournament in Edmonton in April, 2007 and I won't even be able to take my ball cleaner with me. 2) You can’t buy Grey Monk Latitude 50 wine here in Ontario – it’s almost $300.00 to get a case shipped from BC (it’s made in the Okanagan Valley) – and now I can’t even bring it with me on the plane when I’m home to visit my family. You may ask, why not pack the two in your checked luggage? If you've ever had the opportunity to see the way they load the cargo holds on planes, you'll know why I wouldn't even think about it...