Originally Posted by vivalitalia
So off I go to the glass prison cell, petrified because I had just refused to do something TSA told me to do. (Yes, petrified. I guess they have too much power over me and I don't like being rendered powerless, no woman does. Can't there be some civility in TSA to be sensitive to how WOMEN feel about this? We're not men and it really does make a difference.)
I'm considering not taking the job even if they offered it to me because I no longer want to travel (and I love to travel hence why I applied for this job), especially through that airport. Is this what the government wants? For their own people to be afraid of them and for people to avoid airline travel?
In the U.S., democracy is now guilty until you're patted down and judged, and victimizated. Lord. What has the American public done to deserve this?
Dear Vivalitalia,
First, let me say that no one has a right to criticize you for your reactions to the screener's indecent invasion of your personal space. Just because something is "standard procedure" or "hundreds of other people do it everyday" does NOT make it right. This kind of treatment is immoral, inhumane, and despicable, and I would have very similar reactions to yours.
The TSA terrifies me. I have been abused in even more dramatic fashion than what you experienced, and I am afraid. Don't let anyone tell you that you are the problem - the TSA's procedures are the problem.
You can help end this disgrace by writing a letter to the TSA's Office of Civil Rights about your experience. Please copy it also to John Mica, who chairs the House Aviation Subcommittee. Addresses for these can be found at
http://www.dontgrope.us/ (scroll all the way down and click on letters section) There are also some sample letters there.
The good news is that there is hope. Public pressure caused the TSA to back down from its stance on breast touching for all female secondary selectees. The voice of reason and modesty won once, and we should keep pushing until the TSA gets the message: unwanted touching IS a big deal, and it is not acceptable.