A star at Christmas

Joan Collins

12 December 2007

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Joan Collins's Festive Notebook

BAA has become even more strict and intransigent towards its Heathrow travellers. On an overnight trip to Germany Percy and I recently took, we carried the single allotted cabin bag each. With their ludicrous rule that one can’t even carry a handbag (the only airport in the entire world which insists on this inconvenience), I had to stuff mine into Percy’s standard size ‘wheelie’. However, the official-looking somebody mustn’t have liked the cut of our jib and insisted that Percy’s bag was too big, even though it easily went through the X-ray belt. Despite our pleading, Percy was sent back to check his bag while I observed one man go through with a suitcase-size carry-on plus briefcase, another with a surfboard and one woman with a handbag, briefcase, duffel bag and a dog. My protestations of our comparative compliance fell on stony ground. What a difference the following morning in Cologne, when two efficient porters and an airport employee escorted us effortlessly through security without a fuss. We might have won the war, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn a lesson from the Krauts.

George Bush is still the favourite target of late-night comics like Jay Leno and David Letterman, but unlike on our prime-time television you seldom hear the ‘F’ word or the ‘S’ or ‘C’ word.

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Duncan

December 14th, 2007 11:29am Report this comment

Which ‘other week’ were these incidents in New York? I have not been able to track down the details and would like to. When was this incident in Kensington High Street? Recently or in some urban myth time zone? Did the ‘friend’ report it to the police? Is there an incident number? A broken leg is surely quite serious. It is actually rare to see cyclists on the pavement. When you do there are normally extenuating circumstances such as road works that have created additional dangerous choke points. Sometimes beginner cyclists take to the pavement in particularly dangerous areas. Apart from that, cyclists have no interest in being on the pavement. Meanwhile pedestrians are all too often found wandering in the road oblivious to the cyclists around them. Thankfully pedestrians and cyclists rarely harm each other. The real danger comes from drivers. Stand at any major junction and whenever the lights turn red you can see cars, coaches, buses and taxis speeding through. Cycle lanes are ignored and offer little protection. Forward boxes are never enforced. Taxis and buses regard bus lanes as theirs alone and squeeze and cut across cyclists. Van and lorry drivers, often reading a map or using a mobile, seem incapable of using their left mirrors. It is a sad fact that most of the cycling accidents in London are caused by lorries, vans and coaches speeding away from traffic lights and turning left without looking - deaths being regarded by the courts as unfortunate accidents. Instead of whinging at cyclists, we should be striving to create a safe cycling environment in London. Above all, drivers must be taught that a green light is not a license to kill. The roads are there for us all to share: cars do not have priority.

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