There are dangers everywhere, but you already knew that. The question is, do you really believe it?

I am thankful for those whose job it is to keep us safe: police, firefighters, physicians, and the list goes on. I could fill the page with a list of those occupations that impact on our personal safety, people in jobs we wouldn’t want to live without.

But then again, there is that grey area where personal safety and common sense should intersect but don’t. McDonald’s famously began labelling their coffee cups with the word “hot” after being on the losing end of a lawsuit from a woman who scalded herself when she spilled her coffee.

Nowadays you can buy iced coffee at McDonalds, at least in the summer months, so maybe the label makes sense. But it didn’t in 1994 – coffee was always served hot.

With so many people with nut allergies these days it is common to find warning labels on products that say “may contain nuts” or traces of nuts. But is it really necessary to put “may contain nuts” on a can of peanuts? I’ve seen it, and you can see for yourself here.

This is not a post about silly product labelling though; it is a comment on airport security. If you have flown anywhere recently you know what I mean.

The rules for what you can and cannot bring on a plane with you change from time to time. I understand that. But sometimes it is just baffling what is and is not allowed

My wife was waiting for an international flight recently and got to observe the plight of a fellow passenger. The woman was having the contents of her carry-on scrutinized to make sure she wasn’t bringing any weapons or fluids or other illegal material with her. Most of what she had was okay, but one item was confiscated.

The woman had to surrender two balls of yarn or wool (I don’t know the difference really, and I am too lazy to look it up). There was concern it could be used as a weapon, to strangle someone I presume.

I guess that is fair enough, better to err on the side of caution – though I think wool as a weapon would probably be rather inefficient. There are probably no rules against piano wire, which would make a much more efficient garrotte.

The big question though that my wife was left with, and haunts me now, was: why didn’t the security officer seize the woman’s crochet needles?

It seems to me that they are much more dangerous than wool. I know they aren’t sharp like knitting needles can be, but I suspect a crochet needle delivered with force to the chest could kill pretty easily. No problem bringing them on board though.

It’s good to know the security people are vigilant, and I am pleased to be able to report that no-one on the flight was assaulted by a crochet needle wielding woman. But what about next time? Do you think I should file a complaint about lax security?