I have too much to do, it's September 11th of all days, and yet I can't help but be thoroughly pissed off when I read about the sheer stupidity that Dutch and his 2-month-old kid had to endure at the hands of the security screeners at the airport in San Francisco.
homeland security, at your service [sweetjuniper]
On the day that the US started bombing Afghanistan we flew out of LAX. At that point Lucas was a glimmer in our eyes, but when we got to the security check point (with a SLR, a laptop, two Palms etc etc etc in tow) we found a "security" "agent" going through an infants toy bag. Of particular interest were those Fisher Price stacking hoops. When I asked if she wanted us to turn on our lap top, show her that the lens on the camera worked or something resembling her doing her job she shot me a disgusted look, grunted at us and waved us through.
http://www.forward.com/articles/3859
(bug me not: evilbug, password evilbug)
the Stroller of Terrorism, btw, was a phil & ted e3 buggy.
We carry our little guy in a sling, especially when dealing with airport travel, and the freaking airport security ALWAYS, ALWAYS makes us take him out of the sling before we go through security, regardless of the poor little guy's current state (asleep, awake, miserable, etc.). Lots of times they'll even say (as if being so helpful and "understanding"), "Yes, you do have to take him out of that, but you don't have to take it off or anything." SO, you're telling me I have to disturb my completely asleep baby to pull him out of the sling just so I can hold him in my arms on the OUTSIDE of the sling as I walk through?!?!? What the F**K is THAT supposed to do?!?!? I hate those bastards.
And, don't even get me started about the FREAKING pilot giving his loud ass intercom "If you'll look to your left" speeches throughou the flight that inevitably wake the kid up EVERY TIME. Seriously, I think people would prefer a quiet flight with a continuously sleeping baby instead of knowing that the Mississippi River is on the right, while listening to a startled screeching baby. Again, bastards. And I don't care "If they're just doing their jobs." It makes me crazy.
no disrepect but you liberals really need to decide what you want...do you want profiling or not? most of you say that racial profiling is bad and the airport security should not focus any more on a middle eastern guy in his early 30s who is wearing sunglasses over say...an old grandmother with her hair in a bun...or a little kid with this toys...or a pregnant mother, etc.
if you truly want no profiling whatsoever, then you need to put up with idiotic policies like searching your baby's pockets and toys. if you agree to profiling like i do (it makes perfect sense to me) then you have a right to gripe when the airport officials do stupid things like this.
ok...can opened...worm everywhere.
Dan.
[this isn't cable news, Dan, or a warblog. If you'd put down the flamethrower and the strawmen for a minute, maybe we'd find that plenty of people of all across the political spectrum believe in the idiocy, waste of resources, and affront to personal liberty that terrorist-listing and searching infants for bombs entails. -ed.]
Dan seems to have missed the news that Tim McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Ted Kaczynski were officially classified as terrorists. Racial profiling would've done NOTHING to stop them... I always pray that people who subscribe to this POV wind up having multi-ethnic grandchildren so that, just maybe, they'll see how their own flesh-and-blood are affected by such petty thinking.
[Q. did it work for George "they're the little brown ones over there" HW Bush? -ed.]
Now, on to the issue of airport security... *SIGH* I read Dutch's account, and Marjorie's with interest. I laughed and I cringed. And I agree, it sucks that a lot of these TSA (or private security, in SFO's case) people make a lot of retarded calls. But, it's not easy securing a place with the logistics of an airport. A few years back, I had a much smaller facility that I was tasked with keeping secure and it was a freaking nightmare... the stress was killing me. So, while I agree that some of these airport security agents get off on various kinds of power trips and don't always do their jobs the best way possible, those of you who were inconvenienced managed to get home and bitch about it. The people who died on Sept 11th didn't. The system isn't working perfectly, but it's a helluva a lot better than it used to be. A maya wrap is as impractical to go to the airport with as a big Texas-size belt buckle. When I travel, I'm prepared to be inconvenienced because I know that in other parts of the world, pregnant women (or people masquerading as pregnant) blow themselves up, and schoolchildren are given rigged backpacks to carry across security checkpoints. It's just a matter of time before they start trying to do that stuff here. And I want to get home safe, I want my husband and my children and everyone I love to get home safe, even if that means that I have to take my shoes off and pull the carseat out of the carrying bag, and wake my baby up/get him out of the Bjorn and hold him away from me while they make sure neither one of us, or our stuff, is loaded with explosives or WMDs.
Honestly, you all sounded a little like the overprivileged class who complain that "you just can't get good help any more".
[hey, I represent that remark. -ed]
I hate dealing with airport security! Every year my family takes a trip and with 2 kids to look out for, it gets stressful. This year we are planning on going to the World's Fair for kids in April and I can already feel the pressure...
Micaela,
'those of you who were inconvenienced managed to get home and bitch about it.'
When I used to go through security checks - the 'beep' happend and they used to come forward, quickly and quietly pat you down, 'find' your buckle etc. and you would go through. This has unfortunately now been replaced by this f#+*þ* theater.
Buy the way knives were never allowed anyway.
Oh and regarding your argument - the hijakers FLEW the planes - Hello - there was your security breach.
All of this other crap is pointless.
Enjoy your search.
nice post