Yesterday was the eleventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It was interesting that it would be the day a group of House Republicans, all members of the Homeland Security subcommittee, issued a reports suggesting TSA reduce the number of patdowns on passengers, reduce its size, and turn over much of its work to private companies.
Sadly, we’ve heard all of this before and in my personal opinion, nothing will get done.
We are one of the few countries left where shoes must be taken off while going through security. Most countries don’t have a problem with us leaving them on. Here, the equipment that’s supposed to make this practice obsolete, failed testing. Yet, overseas, it works fine.
Other countries don’t find it necessary to do so invasive a patdown that I feel as if I need a cigarette afterwards and should ask “was it good for you.”
Security is important and we can’t get rid of it altogether. But we must stop this show, this outright disrespect towards passengers, and the complete invasion of our privacy and rights just to make the skies safer. If I’m being questioned by an airport security officer, it is none of their business where I’m staying or who I’m seeing. Yet if I don’t answer their questions,or give names (McCarthyism?), and politely explain why, they probably won’t let me fly and may even have me arrested.
There has to be a better way.