I seem to recall someone causing a commotion because they saw a taxi driver washing his feet in MCI a while back. I tried searching for the story but nothing came up, but I heard about it from a hotel van driver IIRC.

Actually, the TSA is generally not the problem when it comes to targeting Muslim travelers who happen to be observing their spiritual obligations. The problem is other passengers who may or may not be acting out of malice and hatred when they report as suspicious someone who may be performing prayers in the airport or in their seat.

Ramadan Kareem to all.

I was going to ask the proper way to extend Ramadan greetings.

Ramadan Kareem!

bolding mine: like i posted earlier...

It is stories like this that make me aware there are people different than I am. And I don't mean people who are the subject of this memo.

I remember once on the train into work a teen pulled out one of the prayer things and did his prayers (not for Ramadan). It was a week before the huge incident about it, and I remember very clearly thinking to myself how much I admire somebody who believes and practices their religion, not somebody take him down, he's praying.

In my job a few years ago we had an event during Ramadan, and three or four of the hourly DOE fund workers I had assigned to me, who were some of the hardest workers ever, were fasting. I could not believe they would work like they did that day and not eat or drink. As we were driving yet another truck full of supplies to the warehouse, one of them mentioned it was sundown, would I mind if we stopped at the McDonalds we were just passing. I again thought how inspiring it was they were doing that, and actually paid for their meal (it would have been expensed back to me anyways, they didn't know that). I work across from that McDonalds now, and every time I walk by think of those guys. I never once thought hey, better get these people to a police station, they have not eaten a thing today. It actually made me do a bit of research into the practices to learn more about the significance.

While I've never personally seen the foot washing, again if I did I would think there's people washing their feet, there's probably some significance to it. I wouldn't freak like the officials at MCI did when they added foot washing basins for the cab drivers a couple years ago.

The move concerns airport police who worry about Middle Eastern men loitering inside the building. After 9/11, the airport beefed up its police force to help prevent terrorist attacks.

"Why are we constructing places of worship for them inside our airports?" said an airport official who requested anonymity. "Why are we catering to their rituals? We don't do it for any other religion."

Yet the fact government agencies still need to issue releases to their people preparing them for a major religious holiday so they won't start shooting or whatever speaks volumes as to how far we have to go as a society.

It's that time of year again....
 

http://www.tsa.gov/press/Significant...s/Ramadan.shtm

And now we wait for some paranoid person to <insert you action here>.......

"Oh my God! There's a TERRORIST over there!"

"He's not a terrorist. He's a Muslim."

"Oh, come on! What's the difference?"

"One is a person whose religious beliefs are different from yours. The other is a fanatical nutbag whose hatred and fear are so great that he wants to kill anyone whose faith is different from his. Kinda like you."

To be fair, though, I don't really recall any panic-induced terminal dumps or passenger stampedes or anything of that nature last year. Maybe we'll get through this year without any inicdents, too.

ramadan mubarak! to my fellow fasting muslim brothers and sisters just wanted to add that in here

Why is abstaining from food or drink considered suspicious?

Because it's a brown skinned person with a funny sounding name full of "ch" sounds in it who is abstaining from food and/or drink and as we all know, all brown skinned person who have a funny sounding name full of "ch" sounds in it are suspicious ;) :rolleyes: