The dustbins of history

I have just been speaking to an old friend and colleague, Robert Taylor, who was employment editor of the Financial Times before he retired in 2001. We were discussing the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington that I had visited in the summer.

The museum is a thoughtfully put together record of the Holocaust but I thought Robert made an interesting point when he asked why it should be in the US rather than Europe.

"Why don't they have a museum that documents the killings of North American Indians or slavery in the US?" he asked. "Is that too close to home?"

It is time that the US came to terms with both its slave-owning past and its treatment of Native Americans. One of the finest displays of Native American clothing and artifacts can be found in the Museum of Natural History in New York. There was nothing I saw there, however, that told the story of the Indian wars; nothing about the way the native people were moved out of their hunting grounds on to reservations and deprived of the food source - the North American Bison - that had sustained their way of life for hundreds of years.

Each visitor to the Holocaust museum is given a card with the name and details of someone who was persecuted in the Holocaust. The idea is to remind us that each of the six million victims of the camps and those that survived was an individual. Robert said that on his visit he found many of these cards discarded in the trash cans outside the museum.

Air travel shock

Having just returned from a short holiday in the US I feel compelled to share our catalogue of travel experiences as a new report from MPs revealed that passengers suffered flight delays totalling 2,434 years at Heathrow airport last year.

It all started when we drove to Heathrow and parked in the long stay car park. The car park bus rolled up as expected. Imagine our surprise at the terminal as we passed through security without a hitch.

Late take off

The plane was slightly late taking off but made up the delay en route. Compounding this early impression of smooth efficiency, we found we had space between our seats that allowed us to spread out. The film system worked normally and the airline food was fine.

Airport queues

When we reached Kennedy airport, however, we couldn't believe our eyes. Lined up before the immigration desks were the shortest of queues. Staff were considerate and friendly.

But taking the Amtrak to Washington was something else. Yes, that's right, it was a train and it worked very well.

Astonishing sequence

The taxis in New York and Washington: what can I say? They were pretty good - nice guys, earned their tips. So what about the buses? They were just great. Convenience personified; cheap too.

And the flight back from Dulles to Heathrow? Comfortable all the way, an early arrival, and there was our car at the end, giving us an easy drive home.

After this astonishing sequence of none events that failed to ruin our holiday I can think of just two words: never again.