I took my mom to the airport this morning and since we had to get her checked in two hours early, it left us quite a bit of time to sit in the cafe next to the metal detector pass through and say our goodbyes.
We watched several dozen people go through the whole "jacket, shoes, belt into the tub" deal and saw a few people patted down and wanded.
Then something happened that made me incredibly mad.
On the other side of the glass retaining wall where all the TSA magic happens, there was an elderly woman in a wheelchair being pushed past the metal detector. Two TSA thugs (one on either side of her) hoisted her out of the chair and one was standing behind the chair. That poor old woman was so frail and hunched over, she was obviously in a bit of pain and had an absolutely mortified look on her face. While the two thugs dangled her, the third awkwardly was shrugging her coat off of her and they all three looked like they were losing their grip enough that she might hit the floor any moment.
Once they got her coat off, they continued to hold her as upright as she could be, but clearly her spine was too hunched and crooked to be anywhere near "upright". TSA thug #3 then proceeded to FRISK her! I don't mean the same type of pat down that other people setting off the walk through detector got...I mean they meant business of the body crevice kind.
Once they sufficiently felt up her hiney, they plopped her into the chair that no one remembered to lock the wheels on... then they struggled to scoot her up in a better position.
For her comfort? No...they had yet to yank her shoes off and frisk her from her thighs down.
Thank God she wasn't the mad bomber that she clearly looked like! After all, she probably even had the nerve to knit an Afghan for some loved one at Christmas!!
Feel safer yet?
6 comments:
I'm not saying I'll never fly again (God seems to just LOVE it when I say 'never', and His response is invariably, "Oh, yeah?")
But if I ever do again, it'll be with the bare minimum of luggage, probably some sort of emergency, and yes, I'll be sure to get there as far ahead of time as said emergency allows.
Someone asked me once if I was afraid of flying, post 9/11, and I responded that I was more afraid of the TSA at the gate than any terrorists on the plane.
Also, those blue gloves ARE kinda creepy.
WV: inque: used only in the finest writing implements.
PS---I have a news clipping somewhere about "airport security" detaining Joe Foss, the WWII fighter pilot hero, and confiscating his CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR. It had pointy edges, you see.
Yeah, I feel safer. Not.
I'd be interested in reading that article if you can find it.
Here is a link about the Joe Foss incident. Totally unbelievable. http://www.snopes.com/military/medal.asp
God forbid we should profile (racial or not). It wasn't 85 y/o ladies that crashed our planes. It wasn't Catholics, Mormans, Buddists.... or even the IRA. But TSA has to frisk someone so obviously unable to take over a plane so as to not appear to profile. Allah akbar.
Al D.: Just so. Thanks.
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