Tomorrow should be an interesting day at the airport. I very much want to tell any and all TSA officials to screw off. Take your x-ray machines and your groping and shove it. But I'm flying with my wife and 2 kids and I very much do not want to upset them, and that urge probably outweighs my desire to test the system.
The problems with all this TSA bullshit, as I see it, is twofold...
- There is no well-defined process. There are half dozen different security machines deployed at various airports throughout the country. None of them are mandatory. If I say I don't want to do something the frontline grunts get confused and, more often than not, belligerent. If you keep saying 'no' there's no plan of action. There's no cascade that says do this, then this, then this, finally escalating to this. This is a recipe for disaster.
- TSA officials at the airport apparently cannot enforce any of these rules. As the author of the above post explains, the TSA officials repeatedly refused to go on record to say that any security procedure was mandatory. If I have to do something, tell me so. And if failure to comply in said mandatory action results in punishment, tell me that too. If you're telling me all of this is optional, then fuck you, buddy. I'll pass. Again, this is bad, particularly from a security standpoint.
Failure to have a well-known, defined, and, most importantly, public process that has clear enforcement guidelines and repercussions will be the downfall of the TSA.
I'll tell you one thing, flight or not, my kids will not go through any Backscatter devices tomorrow nor will I allow them to be subject to a pat-down. So if I miss my flight, you know why. Again, should be a fun day at the airport!
2 comments:
What is your exact issue with the whole body screening devices, Ian? You seem to not like them, but you don't really say why.
If it's privacy, give me a break. I have nothing to hide, and neither do 99.999999% of air travelers. Most people show more skin at the beach to many more people. The only person that sees you is some anonymous TSA screener, who doesn't even see you in real life - they are reading images apart from the scanner.
If it's convenience, don't worry. These things are very fast. We did it last time we flew, and I think security went much quicker than many previous flights. None of those annoying false beeps from the metal detector slowing the whole line when nearly every person gets a beep.
If it's health issues, again don't worry (I have a degree in this exact field, so I can speak with authority). The backscatter X-ray devices are WAY less radiation than an X-ray. In fact, the dose (~0.05 uSv) is equivalent to the normal background radiation dose you get just by being on Earth for 1 hour. Also, the dose you will get on the ensuing 2 hour flight (~6.67 uSv) is actually 100 times greater!!! There is also a millimeter wave scanner that is sometimes used that doesn't use any radiation, but just radio waves.
Just go through security, and get on the plane. Thanksgiving would suck if you didn't make it, or even worse if Steph has to bail you out of federal custody!
I'm so very, very sick of the whole "what's the big deal if you have nothing to hide?" argument. People said the same thing when they talked about doing warrantless wiretaps and it makes me think everyone is taking crazy pills! That's the entirely wrong way of looking at the problem.
The question everyone should be asking is, why am I being subjected to invasions of privacy and infringement on my rights without just cause? You're right, I've got nothing to hide. I've also done nothing wrong, so why all the bullshit? How would you feel if cops just randomly pulled you over and searched your car or showed up at your house and did the same?
Paranoid? Maybe. I just think it's a very dangerous and slippery slope. People would be better off if they weren't so compliant all the time and occasionally asked why something is happening or even said 'No'.
Post a Comment