Airline bullying is becoming a burden

When I first started in academia, we sought answers to the question of what kind of roadmap we should draw to become good scientists.

Judging by our number of publications and citations, it seems we started on the right foot.

Our professor stated that this work is not easy, and that we needed to put in a lot of thought and do a lot of reading.

He added that if it were that easy, everyone would succeed.

Even though we persistently asked if there was a shortcut, we didn't get much of an answer.

Still, he pointed to international congresses as our starting point.

God bless him, he did well.

Following our professor's instructions, we began to follow international congresses, especially those attended by prominent scientists who had made a name for themselves in their fields.

We tried to attend 2-3 times a year.

Back then, things were good.

The university covered all the costs of attending the congress.

All you had to do was submit a publication of a quality that would be printed in the congress booklet and get it accepted.

Once the papers I wrote were accepted, I attended quite a few congresses.

I went to Japan twice.

I even went all the way to Cuba.

When the congress was in Cuba, although getting permission was a bit of a problem, our rector understood once he learned that important scientists would be attending.

Thanks to these congresses, our connections strengthened, we were included in project research groups, we easily followed current research areas, our horizons broadened, and our experience increased.

During this process, we preferred Turkish Airlines as much as possible, even if it was expensive.

Of course, it being a domestic carrier was important, but the real reason was that its quality was always at the highest level.

We were flying with pleasure.

Spending time at the airport was fun.

The lounges where we ate and drank for free with our credit cards were wonderful.

However, things have changed in recent times.

As the years passed, air travel began to turn into torture.

At first, the lounges started asking for other types of credit cards, which we don't have.

Delays made the journey exhausting.

More importantly, delays caused by the constantly malfunctioning passport information system infrastructure led to endless passport queues.

In addition, X-Ray applications started to become annoying.

Even though we dressed in a way that wouldn't trigger alarms, thanks to years of experience, even our rubber shoes started to signal.

We started being put into state-of-the-art ultrasonic devices that project images of our lungs and sometimes our private areas onto a screen.

It didn't happen to me, but they say there are also practices that reach the level of harassment by touching us here and there.

The bullying of the ticket counter staff at the airport has also become unbearable.

The "purpose of your visit" applications with nonsensical questions.

Where are you coming from?

Snap... From A.A.

Don't get me wrong, from Ankara.

Why did you come?

Is the purpose of your visit business or tourism?

Do you have money in your pocket?

Do you have a return ticket?

When will you return?

Where will you stay?

Meaningless questions that actually have much better answers in our beautiful Turkish language.

Once, I gave an answer in our beautiful Turkish to a poor, middle-school-educated counter clerk from a former communist country, and my entry into the country was delayed significantly, and I missed my connecting flight.

But that's okay, at least I felt satisfied.

We somehow tolerate the questions of the wealthy, but the condescending looks of the poor girls from the Iron Curtain, who until yesterday were rotting in the inquisition of the politburo, bother us.

Visa processes are already another painful process that has exhausted people. On top of that, the deliberate bullying of these visa officers has reduced my trips abroad more and more.

Now, even if I find a free ticket, if the trip is not essential, I don't fly.

I eat cheap horse mackerel in Anadolu Kavağı and I even enjoy it more.