So I was flying back from Michigan last month, after the memorial service for my mother. It was a crappy trip to a crappy place for a crappy reason. I was in line to walk through the metal detector behind my three-year old, and right before I walk through, I was pulled out of line and told to walk through one of these new “porno scanner” machines.
So apparently, unlike metal detectors, one cannot walk through these new machines with non-metal things (like wallets) in your pocket. So I was pulled aside again and told I had to be patted down. The TSA agent then took both his hands and rubbed my right upper thigh and testicles. I was not given a choice or at least it was not made apparent to me I had a choice. After the agent wished me a good day, I muttered something I did not intend to speak aloud. The agent came after me, “Sir, excuse me sir, what did you say?” A “nothing” allowed me to go on my way.
Had the agent rubbed me that way on a crowded subway, the posters found there tell me that it would have been sexual assault. Since it happened to me at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and not the NYC subway it is not sexual assault?
Before anyone says, but you can’t be too safe, please read this:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/private-plane-public-menace/8335/
That’s right, if you don’t fly commercial, you don’t have to go through any security at all. No metal detectors, porno scanners, or even an ID. And you get to drive to the plane. But that’s OK, there aren’t rich terrorists. Right? Oh, wait a minute isn’t Osama Bin Ladin . . .
With the absurdity of airport security we now call an action “sexual assault” in one situation, and call the exact same action “security” in another. I don’t believe the current situation in our airports is sustainable. It’s too expensive, intrusive, and unevenly applied, not to mention there is no evidence of its effectiveness. It's become a political issue that no politician is willing to take on. I don't know how this ends, but it can't stay this way.
So apparently, unlike metal detectors, one cannot walk through these new machines with non-metal things (like wallets) in your pocket. So I was pulled aside again and told I had to be patted down. The TSA agent then took both his hands and rubbed my right upper thigh and testicles. I was not given a choice or at least it was not made apparent to me I had a choice. After the agent wished me a good day, I muttered something I did not intend to speak aloud. The agent came after me, “Sir, excuse me sir, what did you say?” A “nothing” allowed me to go on my way.
Had the agent rubbed me that way on a crowded subway, the posters found there tell me that it would have been sexual assault. Since it happened to me at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and not the NYC subway it is not sexual assault?
Before anyone says, but you can’t be too safe, please read this:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/private-plane-public-menace/8335/
I am not a terrorist, but I do share one goal with al-Qaeda: I too would like to have a pilot under my control. But, like most Americans, and presumably unlike al-Qaeda, I am not quite rich enough to buy my way out of airport security.
That’s right, if you don’t fly commercial, you don’t have to go through any security at all. No metal detectors, porno scanners, or even an ID. And you get to drive to the plane. But that’s OK, there aren’t rich terrorists. Right? Oh, wait a minute isn’t Osama Bin Ladin . . .
With the absurdity of airport security we now call an action “sexual assault” in one situation, and call the exact same action “security” in another. I don’t believe the current situation in our airports is sustainable. It’s too expensive, intrusive, and unevenly applied, not to mention there is no evidence of its effectiveness. It's become a political issue that no politician is willing to take on. I don't know how this ends, but it can't stay this way.