My son just flew and they had to eat their meal with a spoon. At what point do we shift from the sublime to the ridiculous? God knows, I want airport/airline security but when anyone starts to overreact this way, it creates unnecessary fear I think. If this is what the airlines think they need to do to beef up security, we're all in a lot of trouble.

<BR>Eating with a spoon instead of a fork is the least of my worries.

Agree with JJ. What about chop sticks?

You mean there's someone out there who actually eats airline food? (Sorry, just felt as if I had to lighten the moment.) I flew last Friday, and they offered plastic knives.

If one draws the line based on one's perception of what is prudent, then one must realized that just because one does not see how the restriction allows for a deadly weapon does not mean than someone else can carry on a deadly weapon within the same limit. Raising the limit merely allows resourceful ones to carry on even more deadly weapons. <BR> <BR>Plastic utensils one is familiar with, such as the ones given out at outdoor picnics, may be feeble. But with proper additives, plastics can be made very stiff. You don't see them just anywhere, because these are rather expensive products.

What about plastic forks? Those can be dangerous too ("Don't run with that, you'll put someone's eye out!"). <BR> <BR>I think at last we have found a raison d'etre for that lowliest of eating implements, the spork.

Put air marshalls on every flight, and you don't have to do dumb things like ban nail clippers and plastic knives. If someone starts a hijack, the air marshall will end it. Everyone could relax. <BR> <BR>Am I the only one who can see that?

Unless the air marshall is the one whose throat is first cut...

I don't understand why everyone is so upset that nailclippers are banned. LikeI wanna watch someone clip their nails, or worse, their toenails! <BR> <BR>Let us not think about what just is good for us. How about what the airline attendants? What do they need to feel safe? <BR>

I've been wondering what kind of hijacker is gonna think, let's just pick up some weapons on the airplane --- hoping they'll serve steak and not fish in business class! Don't they come prepared? And don't tell me that the searches before boarding the plane can ever be that secure.

I was just wondering about the purchases in the duty free shops. How are the airlines going to handle that little problem? For example, if you shop in a duty free shop, the merchandise is delivered directly to the plane for carry-ons. I suppose people buy toiletries and other items that could be considered as dangerous or as weapons -- even liquor comes in glass bottles. A glass bottle would be considered dangerous. Nips are now in plastic bottles, and have been for years, but that brilliant idea had to do with the weight of the bottles. And now that I think about it, what about the in-flight purchases? Do you think the airlines will stop selling merchandise in the air or change their product lines? <BR> <BR>Any thoughts?

OK, so no inflight hawking of duty-free goods, but they guy next to you may be trimming his nails with a spork? <BR>Seems like a reasonable tradeoff.

yeah, strictly soup and peanuts for first class ) <BR>i wonder if bush has to spoon his filet mignon on airforce one now, too, ... or do they serve it to him cut up into smaller pieces as usual?

Ya' know coming back from Paris on last Monday I can't tell you what utensils I ate with. I can tell you the view from Arc de Triomphe is still beautiful. I agree with "JJ". Let's keep things in perspective/context please.

You would NEVER recognize the air marshal--and if I told you how many of them there are you would be amazed. They trained at the facility our daughter trained at.

Realist, no, you are not the only one. El Al (Israeli Airline) has a marshall on every flight. By the way they have double-doors nobody can open so the pilot is out of danger. Result - no hijacking in the past 20 years.

I also heard that Pearson Airport in Toronto had taken out all knives (including plastic) from their restaurants.

I can tell you that as of September 30, Lufthansa has NOT removed the metal butter knife served with their breakfast, Rome-Frankfurt. <BR>

Luftansa may have done so now as Alitalia had the same problem and there was a big bruhaha here about it. A lot of publicity got it changed very fast. <BR> <BR>However, you can still buy dangerous objects in the airport stores of many european airports. <BR> <BR>One idea so no one will complain about having to use spoons anymore would be for airlines to start serving only finger foods. <BR>Would everyone be happy then?

Alitalia (9/28) was using plastic knife and fork when I we flew into NYC. <BR>Air Canada out of NYC and Toronto had a metal fork and spoon, and a flimsy plastic knife. <BR>I kept thinking of the Robin Hood movie (Men In Tights?) where the Sheriff says "I'll cut your guts out with a dull spoon!" <BR>"Why a spoon?" <BR>"Because it hurts more, you idiot!"