"If you've done nothing wrong" & section 7

[An_Inspector_Calls]

Not quiter the same thing as Miranda's detention, then.

Agreed, mine was shorter, but without food or drink, nowhere to sit, and exposed to the noise torture of screaming brats.

[french frank]

Yes, it was at immigration control and there were thousands of us.

So were you using 'detain' in the sense 'To keep from proceeding or going on; to keep waiting; to stop. (The ordinary current sense.)' (OED) as might be the case in order to complete proper processes;

or in the legal sense

A Detention is a non-consensual temporary denial of liberty. A police officer [or, presumably, immigration officer] must have "reasonable suspicion" that

i you are about to commit a crime
ii you are in the act of committing a crime, or
iii you have committed a crime ;

in which case to have kept thousands of you in such a condition would seem dastardly.

Or was it in a Greek sense?

[Flosshilde]

Agreed, mine was shorter, but without food or drink, nowhere to sit, and exposed to the noise torture of screaming brats.

My heart bleeds.

Sounds like you were actually just in a rather long queue at the immigration desk.

I was detained by Easyjet at Gatwick once on my way home for Palermo.

[ahinton]

I suspect that many of us may have been "delayed" at airports in circumstances such as those described without being "detained" per se as in the case of Mr Miranda; the former would not have included being subjected to interrogation by authorities or having possessions confiscated (other, perhaps, than by HM Customs). I recall once having to wait with a trolly full of shopping at Waitrose in Bath for just over an hour in the week leading up to Christmas where access to tills was being "policed" (i.e. controlled) rather more precisely than is usually necesary by Waitrose staff, but I would rather obviously be loath to complain of having been "detained" by the John Lewis Partnership Security Police and I eventually ended up leaving the establishment with more rather than less possessions than I'd entered with.

On the other hand, I was once "detained" in Los Angeles without explanation at the time of my detention and was subjected to extensive and absurd interrogation as well as detailed examination of all my possessions (including what I was wearing at the time of arrival there) and was not offered (although I also did not actually request) legal representation; I was in fact on the point of requesting such representation when it was decided that I would be released and be free to continue my journey. This exercise delayed me by 2½ hours, which caused no small amount of inconvenience. When I asked for the reason for my detention, I was advised that this was solely on account of my having a Chinese visa in my passport (this was in the late 1970s). I was not happy and said to myself but out loud "great - welcome to the United States of America" which prompted a question as to how I'd been treated when entering in Shanghai, to which I could only answer "not like I have here". I suppose that I should have submitted a formal complaint but I was very tired and just couldn't be bothered; no excuse, I know.

[An_Inspector_Calls]

Or was it in a Greek sense?

Yes: to de . . .tain.

[french frank]

Yes: to de . . .tain.

de-tenere? Looks as Greek as, say, 'reveal'.

[An_Inspector_Calls]

Yes, but I was considering (as in Con . . . sider) detain in the Greek (Alan Bennett) sense. 'Unfortunately', Bennett seems to have varied the sermon at each performance so the CD of BtF has the relevant quote, but not the you-tube.

What the hell, here's Bennett anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOsYN---eGk

[french frank]

Yes, but I was considering (as in Con . . . sider) detain in the Greek (Alan Bennett) sense. 'Unfortunately', Bennett seems to have varied the sermon at each performance so the CD of BtF has the relevant quote, but not the you-tube.

Ah, a pleasantery - excuse me for taking you literally!

Is that how you spell ... I'll look it up <patter patter>

Pleasantry (I was thinking plaisanterie) :-)

[Bryn]

de-tenere? Looks as Greek as, say, 'reveal'.

Re. veal, I avoid it.

[anotherbob]

From this week's "Private Eye" :-
1 Detention of Guardian journalist's partner, described by paper as a "profound escalation of attacks on journalism."

120 Arrests so far of tabloid journalists and sources in raids on family homes which followed Guardian phone-hacking revelations.

I'm concerned to find PE following the Daily Mail line on this.

[Flosshilde]

Re. veal, I avoid it.

No need to avoid grass-fed veal (sometimes known as 'rosy veal' - or 'rosie veal' as a local butcher had it). The veal I've had came from a farm just south of Glasgow that took the male calves from the dairy farm next door & raised them outdoors on grass. Whether that was 'better' than killing them at birth I don't know, but unless you are a vegetarian or vegan I don't think that there is any ethical problem in eating it.

[scottycelt]

I was detained by Easyjet at Gatwick once on my way home for Palermo.

I'm not surprised ... coming from there you might easily have been one of those hooded-brothers working for Mobjet. :snigger:

[An_Inspector_Calls]

Pleasantry (I was thinking plaisanterie) :-)

Ah well, we've all been there . . .

What's mirth in ya medieval French . . .?

[teamsaint]

always suspicious of those who used to be screaming brats referring to screaming brats in derogatory fashion.

[Bryn]

always suspicious of those who used to be screaming brats referring to screaming brats in derogatory fashion.

"used to be"?