It was several years ago. We had a few days left in Italy before our return flight to New York when we got a phone call from the airline that an airport strike was planned for noon the next day and we could catch an early flight to Paris. That would leave us with the whole day in Paris before our evening flight back to New York. We had it all planned. We wouldn't waste the day at the airport. We'd check our luggage and spend the day in Paris and visit the neighborhood where we had stayed on a previous trip.
We arrived in Paris to learn that you could no longer check your luggage at the airport. No lockers, no courtesy early check-in for the luggage. Security.
Last weekend, we went to see a play at Lincoln Center. It was in the Mitzi Newhouse, the small theater under the Vivian Beaumont. The nice thing about these theaters is that they provide courtesy lockers for your coats and bags. We got to the theater early and I went to hang my coat. The lockers were all locked -- not a courtesy key in sight. The house manager announced that the lockers were not available for security reasons.
Yet another reminder of the world and times we live in. A very somber and troubling reminder.