I've been doing a fair amount of flying this summer for various reasons, and if anything, these enhanced "security measures" do nothing but put me on edge. On a trip to France, a friend of mine, who is about as innocuous-looking as they come, got searched almost every place we went with security checks, both in the US and in France. On a family trip to visit my grandparents in South Dakota, I was pulled aside to be 'wanded,' and despite the jewelry I wore, you know the only two things that made that wand beep? The button on my pants and the hook on my bra. Yeah, like I'm gonna go bustin' out of my clothes on the plane and assault someone with my underwear. (Though now that I think about it, it does have possibilities...) Seriously, though, I understand the purpose for that, especially since I beeped. However, the TSA lady who had to do the wand and pat-down thing was visibly rolling her eyes as if she couldn't believe she had to search yet another 90-pound teenager travelling with her family today.
What was even more interesting was our flight out of Hector International Airport in Fargo, ND. First of all, the airport is tiny...it's only considered an international airport because it has flights that go to Canada. Second of all, they have no x-ray machines, with the exception of the one that is at the one security checkpoint. (Getting an idea as to the size of this airport yet?) So, these TSA people search the luggage by hand. We stood there for about 15 minutes while they looked through my brother's bag, then my dad's, then my sister's, then mine. My mum, who was at the end of the line of our little party, did not get her bag searched at all. While she was not carrying anything of an illicit nature, she was carrying an empty ammunition can that my grandad had given to my brother. Wrap your brains around that one for a second. I found it amusing in a rather twisted sort of way.
I guess the entire point to this great ramble of mine is that the only times I have seen someone get searched was when I was perfectly aware that there was no good reason for it, and the times when someone didn't get searched, they were actually carrying something that might have attracted notice. Other examples include my packing fireworks into checked baggage (pre-9/11) and then not stating that I'd done so, and my sister unwittingly carrying a pair of nail clippers on board that had gone without notice, when the pervious day my 60-something-year-old great aunt had a pair of nail scissors confiscated at the same airport. This airport security is, in essence, a farce, and an unneccessary drain on resources, not to mention, a good way to turn me into a paranoid, nervous wreck everytime I fly.
Harkening back to the comment that has been criticised already, "I have nothing to fear because I have nothing to hide," I must also criticise. Even though I may not be hiding something, what if I'm doing something wrong that I didn't know I was doing? It happens...it's the same reason why perfectly innocent people get all nervous when a cop walks by.
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I've been doing a fair amount of flying this summer for various reasons, and if anything, these enhanced "security measures" do nothing but put me on edge. On a trip to France, a friend of mine, who is about as innocuous-looking as they come, got searched almost every place we went with security checks, both in the US and in France. On a family trip to visit my grandparents in South Dakota, I was pulled aside to be 'wanded,' and despite the jewelry I wore, you know the only two things that made that wand beep? The button on my pants and the hook on my bra. Yeah, like I'm gonna go bustin' out of my clothes on the plane and assault someone with my underwear. (Though now that I think about it, it does have possibilities...) Seriously, though, I understand the purpose for that, especially since I beeped. However, the TSA lady who had to do the wand and pat-down thing was visibly rolling her eyes as if she couldn't believe she had to search yet another 90-pound teenager travelling with her family today. What was even more interesting was our flight out of Hector International Airport in Fargo, ND. First of all, the airport is tiny...it's only considered an international airport because it has flights that go to Canada. Second of all, they have no x-ray machines, with the exception of the one that is at the one security checkpoint. (Getting an idea as to the size of this airport yet?) So, these TSA people search the luggage by hand. We stood there for about 15 minutes while they looked through my brother's bag, then my dad's, then my sister's, then mine. My mum, who was at the end of the line of our little party, did not get her bag searched at all. While she was not carrying anything of an illicit nature, she was carrying an empty ammunition can that my grandad had given to my brother. Wrap your brains around that one for a second. I found it amusing in a rather twisted sort of way. I guess the entire point to this great ramble of mine is that the only times I have seen someone get searched was when I was perfectly aware that there was no good reason for it, and the times when someone didn't get searched, they were actually carrying something that might have attracted notice. Other examples include my packing fireworks into checked baggage (pre-9/11) and then not stating that I'd done so, and my sister unwittingly carrying a pair of nail clippers on board that had gone without notice, when the pervious day my 60-something-year-old great aunt had a pair of nail scissors confiscated at the same airport. This airport security is, in essence, a farce, and an unneccessary drain on resources, not to mention, a good way to turn me into a paranoid, nervous wreck everytime I fly. Harkening back to the comment that has been criticised already, "I have nothing to fear because I have nothing to hide," I must also criticise. Even though I may not be hiding something, what if I'm doing something wrong that I didn't know I was doing? It happens...it's the same reason why perfectly innocent people get all nervous when a cop walks by.