Emotional baggage

The Advertiser: Premier confesses to worry over luggage [02jun05]:

"NEW South Wales Premier Bob Carr says he is more cautious about air travel after revelations of alleged drug smuggling at Sydney airport."

I confess I was worried about going out and coming back through Sydney in the light of all our recent news. The truth? The experience was far pleasanter than the one 3 years ago. Everyone was so helpful,cheerful, polite, efficient and friendly. The airport had a really healthy, happy atmosphere which was not my experience three years ago. I felt they were effective without being overbearing and frightening, which is what I was worried about.I put three combination locks on my luggage. One went missing on the return trip from Sydney to Adelaide. Nothing was damaged on the suitcase. It would have been hard to cut off without damage. Nothing went missing. Nothing was touched , but it's a mystery how that lock disappeared and I'm uncomfortable about it. It was from the top small pocket at the front of the case where I stash bits and pieces of holiday papers. I didn't see any shrink wrapped cases but I certainly saw plenty which were gaffer taped! Everyone had locks. I should hate to see Qantas suffer because of this . We are alert to it now and people are going to have to accept the thorough checks on their history if they want employment in those sorts of areas. I don't want Qantas to suffer because it represents Australia. It represents us as an airline. Virgin does a great job, I know, because everyone raves about them. But Qantas is like Aunty ABC - one of our icons. It needs to be managed sensibly through this lot of crap.