Walthamstow!!!???

I'm hearing that the terrot plot to blow up planes out of London en

jmcquown...

The liquids (which in my case would be personal care items such as shampoo,
makeup, etc.) can be packed in checked luggage. Of course, if you want
something to drink while you're waiting after checking through security,
expect to pay an arm and a leg for a bottle of water or a soda.

Winnie...

There are drinking fountains in the secured area at the local airport.
There are also coffee shops, assuming they can still sell them in paper
cups. Just hope the airlines are
stocking up on drinks for on board use. There will be a lot of thirsty
travellers, especially on long flights. The last time I flew I noticed
many took water bottles and food on board.

Monique Y. Mudama...

I always take a water bottle. I don't like my water chilled, and I
definitely don't like it in a cup that I have to drink in a hurry.
I'd rather have something I can sip on along the way.

I get nasty headaches when I fly, and the water helps with it.

I realize that all of this is just an inconvenience, whereas getting
blown up would be considerably worse, but still ... I don't see myself
wanting to fly any time soon.

route to the US originated in Walthamstow!! I'be *been*
in Walthamstow. I drank beer in Walthamstow!! It's a really nice
place!!

Christina Websell...

Bad people can get into nice places. We seem to have it held here, thank
goodness. We are on such high alert here that anyone who is carrying a
liquid has to drink some of it in front of security guards in case it's a

Jo Firey...

I'm quite sure she didn't. And I really don't mean to excuse her behavior.
Just think of it as a cultural thing. A lot of people in the US don't take
kindly to helpful suggestions, especially around their kids.

Another possible thing to avoid. And I'm guessing it is considered
acceptable in other parts of the world or the folks doing it wouldn't be
quite so shocked by the reaction they get. Never, ever, correct someone
else's children. Even if they need it. Even if it would be perfectly OK to
do so in your own neighborhood at home.

Here you are likely to trigger not only a mamma bear protecting her young
response, but a highly offended parent who thinks you are acting like you
are better than they are. You might well be stepping on cultural, class,
and socio-economic toes.

Takayuki...

American families are such independent units. More so than in any
other country I know. Extended families are uncommon, children move
out early, and raising your children is your own responsibility and
nobody else's. Highly individualistic culture.

Monique Y. Mudama...

And family values can vary widely within the same neighborhood. The
people who lived in our house before us, D and S, were pretty
conservative. D was a promise keeper. My next door neighbor, J, has
a young teenage daughter, N. J told me that on more than one
occasion, when J and N were outside talking, S would march across the
street to scold N for "mouthing off" to her mom -- even though in J's
opinion nothing of the sort was happening!

People have very different ideas on child-rearing, is the problem.

Cheryl Perkins...

Things change over time, too. I don't know if this was ever the case in
the US, but here it was, within living memory, common for many people in
authority - religious leaders, teachers, older unrelated adults - as well
as members of the extended family to take responsibility for the behaviour
and well-being of children. An adult who *didn't* scold a misbehaving
child (if the parents weren't present) or give good advice on child care
to a much younger parent would be considered to be falling down on his or
her duty to teach younger people how to behave. And if a child's offense
was serious enough, the adult would report it to the parents as well,
resulting in a double punishment for the child. This was commonplace in my
mother's childhood (say, the 1940s) and existed to some extent in mine.

Now, of course, you can get threatened with a lawsuit or worse if you
interfere at all between a parent and a child - and charged with a crime
if you *don't* interfere when you suspect abuse is occuring.

Kreisleriana...

This country has always seesawed back and forth, to some extent,
between communitarian and individualistic values, which reflects the
divisions between urban, suburban and rural areas. Different values
flourish in different places. The kind of community involvement you
describe isn't as easy when you live miles away from your neighbor--
and people who don't *want* that kind of involvement tended to
gravitate away from cities and towns. My mother and father grew up
on streets where their mothers-- and everybody else's mothers-- were
popping out of windows all the time, yelling at everybody's kids. ;)

jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...

That certainly contradicts the usual stereotypes of the small, rural
towns where everyone knows everyone else's business, and the big,
impersonal, anonymous city where nobody pays any attention to what's
going on 10 feet away from them. Interesting!

sriddles...

That's kind of what I thought...but I imagine at the time her parents
were growing up, each neighborhood was like a little community of its
own.
Growing up in a small town, I definitely was raised by the whole
village. I can't count the number of times someone had already called
my parents to report some indiscretion I'd committed before I even got
home.

Cheryl Perkins...

My mother and I both grew up in small towns (actually, in the same one!)
and I've always associated the culture I describe with small towns, or at
least towns small enough so that any given adult, on spotting any given
child committing vandalism (or whatever) can call out to the child by both
first and last names, and in the course of the ensuing scolding, make
reference to the child's parents, grandparents, etc.

I think stability of population has a lot to do with it, too. When I first
moved to our provincial capital I revelled in the anonymity of what I
think was then about 100,000 people. When I mentioned this to someone who
was born and raised in one of the older areas of the city (not one of the
new suburbs with a lot of new families who had just moved in), she said it
wasn't anonymous for her; ever since she was a child, if she did anything
at all, her mother knew about it before she got home. In that case, there
was a larger population, but some segments of it had been stable in the
same areas for a couple generations or more, so people knew people and the
connections among people were maintained in a more small-town style.

If I wanted to avoid this type of highly communal living, I'd never go to
a small town, and I'd also never go totally rural (isolated farm in the
middle of nowhere) because such places always have *some* kind of
small-town equivalent where everyone shops and gossips. I'd go to the
biggest city available and pick a highly mobile neighbourhood - maybe a
new subdivision, maybe an area with a lot of students or young couples
saving for their first home.

Marina...

Oh, I would have hated that! The only people who knew who I was (and my
parents) were my neighbours, whose daughter was my best friend. My
school was further away than the neighbours' girl's, so I didn't even
have any classmates living near me.

jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...

There's a constant tension between the desire for independence and privacy,
and the need to belong somewhere and know that people care about you. I
live by myself in an urban area, and although I have several very good
friends who all live within 5 miles (8 km) or so, it's not exactly like
living in a small village, and sometimes I miss that sense of community.

Cheryl Perkins...

There's always that tension. I, too, live in an urban area, although in an
old established neighbourhood. I love where I live - it's mobile enough to
allow privacy (which I value highly) but centrally located so I can easily
visit friends and participate in a wide range of activities that bring me
in contact with new people (and, of course, new friends when an activity
interests me enough to keep going with).

On the other hand, I don't miss bossy, gossipy people who tell everyone
what you're up to, or judgemental in-groups that might snub you if you
don't fit in with their values.

Cheryl Perkins...

Well, you find them everywhere. But in a larger town or a city, there are
enough people to make it easier to find another more congenial group if
one particular group tends to be nasty.

Then there are intentional communities, which try to be the best of both.
But it's always a struggle trying to live among other humans, and most
of the time, I don't have the patience. There's a reason my housemates are
all of the furry variety!

Cheryl Perkins...

Me, too. I value my independance and privacy. I've considered getting a
roommate to help with the bills, but the loss of privacy always outweighs
any benefits. Yet, there are many people who absolutely hate living alone.
I guess everyone has different needs and preferences.

Marina...

It's no use, Sherry, we know it's you. ;o)

jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...

Her right hand is drifting again. :) But I think it's a cool alias
anyway. I hear it in my head as "Sierru".

sriddles...

LOL! I keep doing that. It's funny how all it takes is drifting one row
of keys and it turns a 1950's cheerleader name into something exotic.
Sounds kinda like a stripper's stage name though. :-)

Theresa
Theresa

Make Levees, Not War

Again, I'm not defending the response. Just warning anyone not to be
surprised if it happens.

Yes, many of our children (and young adults for that matter) should have and
show a lot more respect for their elders. Some do, but you can't count on
it.

liquid explosive.
A lot of mothers of small babies have had to gulp down their formula milk.

Theresa

Make Levees, Not War