Am I angry? By no means! I had the best time of my life. With modest accommodation in Northern London, surrounded by friends, I could stay on not just for six additional days, but for several months. To be honest with you I am quite disappointed this did not happen. But I still avoided a week of hard work back at home and my son was late for school. I could retaste a life with few responsibilities and my son had his first tast of freedom from School and Mother.
Was there a danger? Depends who you talk to. Politicians do not have a clue, but cannot afford even a single plane falling off the sky, so they need to listen to scientists. But scientists were quite adamant: volcanic ashes are a nasty thing and can blunt a jet engine.
But we also know that in addition to standard methodology of science they also employ the precautionary principle, which is fairly conservative and also political (it is a statutory requirement in EU law). Unlike in a court of law, it does not give an accused technology the benefit of a doubt. Planes must be grounded if there a danger is suspected, but it is not yet scientifically proven. The cost is not an object.
And it is difficult to fully trust the scientist after the Year 2000 IT fiasco. Back then computers were supposed to stop because of internal clock and date problems, unless lots of money be spent on fixing the issues. So said the scientists, or at least specialists. Some countries spent a lot, some precious nothing, but no country experienced even mild tremours. This is somehow hard to forget.
