Originally Posted by
copwriter
Pulling off some spectacular incident at the Statue of Liberty would get your average Jihadi an extra dozen or so virgins in Paradise, I expect. It doesn't surprise me that the security is much tighter there. Security is seldom convenient, but that day it was even more inconvenient for all of the people standing in line behind you. Had I been one of them, I would have suggested that you swim back to the mainland.
And I, for one, would have told you (
copwriter) where to stick it. OP was protesting LUDICROUS abuses of authority, and the "police state" comment was in no way out of line. The treatment in this case of someone who has legitimate concerns about what the "security" personnel were demanding he do is appalling.
Originally Posted by
copwriter
As thegingerman mentioned, I think you taught your son a memorable lesson: if you don't want to follow the rules, don't. I spent a number of years dealing with people that ran their lives that way. We called them "criminals," "defendants," "arrestees," or "inmates" (there were also some more colorful terms), depending on their progression in the system. I sincerely hope your son doesn't turn out that way, but if he does, remember where he might have learned the behavior.
Yeah - instead, he should have just "gone along and been a good little sheep", huh?
When the rules are bovine excrement, defying them is a GOOD thing. I'm reasonably sure, if there had been a modicum of courtesy displayed by the "security" staff, OP would have been reasonably courteous back and gone through his wallet with the guard to demonstrate there were no pocket nukes in it.
I sincerely hope his son DID learn to push back against officious pr---s and their BS rules. If we continue giving them what they want all the time, they'll just keep getting worse.