Alaska Representative to be Showered with Flowers — and You Can Join In

By Brian Cohen at The Gate
Thu Feb 24, 2011 12:56am EST

Frequent travelers must encounter airport security checkpoints wherever they go if they want to be passengers on commercial aircraft, but many are reticent about their feelings once at the airport regarding the perceived invasive procedures instituted by the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA.

However, there are exceptions, as FlyerTalk members are purchasing Flowers for Rep. Sharon Cissna because she refused an “invasive” pat-down search at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport security checkpoint — and everyone is welcome to join in on showering her with flowers. The Anchorage Democrat was singled out as the result of a security checkpoint scan showing suspicious features which were actually scars from a recent mastectomy.

Having submitted to such a search in the past and vowing never to endure it again, Cissna was denied entry past the security checkpoint as a result of her refusal of a pat-down, forcing her to drive back to Juneau from Seattle, saying that the freedom of travel should “never come at the price of basic human dignity and pride.”

In her excused absence as she travels back to Juneau, the Alaska state House voted 36-2 to adopt that very sentiment.