Another Airport Story

Too tired tonight to go very far into this white cane story. It happened right after I cleared customs and security at Pearson International in Toronto. Never had my passport confiscated before by anyone, let alone an airport employee insisting on escorting me to the gate. I was too disoriented to stand my ground and refuse assistance. I wanted my passport back. Now I need to track down the appropriate functionary in Ontario and politely discuss anti-discrimination policy and the possibility of a lawsuit. Next time I pass through Pearson, maybe I will put away the cane and trust my dead reckoning.

Sitting at the gate, trying to simmer down, I listened to this week’s On the Media podcast and found a parallel in tactics used by the NYPD to stigmatize reporters in order to limit access to crime scenes. Check out the interviews with Newsday’s Ellis Henican and The Village Voice’s Wayne Barrett about covering Mayor Rudi Giuliani back in the day.