A month or so ago I bought a pair of walking shoes without any metal parts because I was sick and tired of having to take them off at security gates. On my second visit to the Munich airport this year I had to put my shoes through the X-Ray machine nonetheless. In fact, I was told to take them off even before I went through the security gate. “It is an order,” the attendants explained helpfully when I objected to this superfluous indignity. “I just flew in from Trieste!” I persisted as I was unlacing my shoes. And what will be my revenge? This is my very last flight through Munich. My last flight ever is coming up in three months and three weeks.