They still have to go through security.
It was July 15, they showed up at the Quebec airport well in advance, “as usual”, to catch their 3 p.m. flight which would take them to Montreal, from where they would catch a another flight to London. They have the appropriate utensils in their cabin baggage and a letter from the neurologist to explain that Serge needs them.
They had traveled with it in December, it had worked without problem.
Then, like this last time, they present the utensils, including a knife, and the letter. “It’s the same scenario, they said ‘it’s OK, you can go’. But unfortunately with Air Canada, the flight was delayed, delayed, delayed, and then finally canceled. So we had to go get our luggage and go back through security. And that’s when things started to go wrong.”
The agent was intractable, the knife did not pass. “She said it wasn’t possible. I told him “read the letter from the neurologist”. I explained that it’s not a whim, that it’s necessary. I said that in December it was OK and just now, at noon it was OK. We are the same people with the same utensils.”
She responded point-for-tat: “they should never have granted that.” Odette argued, “are your colleagues incompetent?” the agent did not respond. “She started measuring. She called I don’t know who. In short, it never worked. That doesn’t make any sense. She finally said, ‘you should have had the food prepared in advance’.”
While the two women persisted, Serge took a spoonful of his dignity. “My husband cried like a child. I’ve never seen my husband cry like that, ever. It is toughthere. He was a strong guy.”
Without his utensils, he cannot eat on his own.
“We left without the knife. But one of his colleagues was correct, he came to see us afterwards. He said, “do you have anyone who can come get your knife, at least get it back?” That’s what we did, we called his brother, he came to pick him up.”
You should know that security at airports in Canada is ensured by CATSA, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. “Objects with blades measuring more than 6 cm must be placed in checked baggage and are permitted on board Canadian, American and international flights,” spokesperson Dominique Huras wrote to me.
But, she clarifies, “it is the screening officer who makes the final decision whether or not to authorize an item beyond the checkpoint.”
So, there is a certain latitude, a place for judgment.
Odette still can’t believe her intransigence. “We didn’t have it for the trip,” a cruise in Europe. “I have never seen a story like that, it had no discernment, no humanity. It was so humiliating, it was heartbreaking.”
Their server on the boat noticed that Serge, without his knife, was having difficulty cutting his food. “He brought her a cut on his own, he did that discreetly.”
To preserve his dignity.
For Serge, 67, the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) on May 25, 2022 was a hard shock to accept. “He’s a strong guy, he did everything with his hands. He was very skilled. But there, he can hardly do anything anymore. The disease advances, slowly but surely, getting your food to your mouth begins to be laborious.
I didn’t meet him, he was sleeping when I came by in the afternoon. “We do our things in the morning. Afterwards, it is burned.”
Because of this illness which is eating away at Serge’s muscles, they had to give up their kayak, they also swapped their manual car for an automatic. Soon, they will have their house adapted, including the bathroom, in addition to widening the front door and installing a lifting platform “for when he is in a wheelchair”…
Hence this sense of urgency that drives them, this desire to travel “as long as it is possible”.
Odette, 65, admires her lover. “I find him very courageous because he still has the desire to do certain things.” They’re talking about Italy in the spring. “In May, we’re going to Venice for nine days, we’ll be married for 15 years next year. I went several times, he never did, I told him “you have to at least see this”.”
They will have their knife, the letter from the neurologist.
And keep their fingers crossed.
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