One fundie's tale of persecution from the TSA

[celestial]

Watch out, this puppy is LONG!

plymouthrockranch dot com/blog/?p=2696

I don't know about you, but I doubt that everything in her story happened just the way she says it did. I've seen some questionable practices by TSA, but a number of things in her narrative sound highly suspect and more like she just views her entire life through the lens of "I am persecuted because I'm a Christian!!!"

Thoughts?

[Cassandra]

I feel like she misinterpreted being patted down greatly.

She was patted down because if you're wearing a skirt the shape of your legs, and anything potentially strapped to them, can't be seen. Also, it sounds like she could see her son the entire time, so I'm not sure what the big deal with that was.

[anniebgood]

I'd give them a little leeway on this. I am an active member of several airline security blogs and boards and the stories are just like these from every day people not just fundies. We're treated as if we are the enemies, flying domestically in our own country. I can't go through the nude o scope and the pat down isn't fun. :evil: The TSA is out of control and they think because they have a little tin badge it gives them power to intimidate and humiliate people.

:?:

No wonder Uriah has so many miles on him, could you see Terri and the girls being treated to a full body patdown because you can't see their legs? :violence-impact:

(I am now formally separated from them so I can speak my true feelings...)

[Kitten]

An INTELLIGENT mother would know to go through the scan BEFORE her child, just as she should always go down stairs first, to be there for her child should s/he need help or fall.

The rest of it - ahh, just utter nonsense by one of those hypersensitive people who take everything personally and escalate into hysterics at the drop of a hat. Her fundieness just flavors her interpretation, but I know a few people like this of differing beliefs. They're exhausting to be around, because EVERYTHING is a DRAMA, and it's the WORST thing that EVER happened, and NO ONE understands me, and blah, blah, blah...

You notice the entire narrative is about HER and HER "trauma" - only the merest mention of how her son realizes she's not right behind him, but no mention of him being hysterical or upset, just a bit confused as to where she is.

Classic narcissist behavior/attitude.

[tehfanglyfish]

Personally, I disagree with the patdowns and scanners. Therefore, I don't fly. (Not that I have the money to fly anyway :lol: ) I don't particularly care for a woman who has to censor the word molested - she used m*lested - but I can understand why she felt violated by this. I know of several sexual assault survivors who found TSA treatment to be triggering.

[Koala]

An INTELLIGENT mother would know to go through the scan BEFORE her child, just as she should always go down stairs first, to be there for her child should s/he need help or fall.

The rest of it - ahh, just utter nonsense by one of those hypersensitive people who take everything personally and escalate into hysterics at the drop of a hat. Her fundieness just flavors her interpretation, but I know a few people like this of differing beliefs. They're exhausting to be around, because EVERYTHING is a DRAMA, and it's the WORST thing that EVER happened, and NO ONE understands me, and blah, blah, blah...

You notice the entire narrative is about HER and HER "trauma" - only the merest mention of how her son realizes she's not right behind him, but no mention of him being hysterical or upset, just a bit confused as to where she is.

Classic narcissist behavior/attitude.

Have you no sympathy????? She doesn't even remember what they had for breakfast that morning!!! :violin:

But, they got a free cookie, so there's that :roll:

[themadapple]

It may have happened about that way, although magnified with the Christian persecution aspect. I highly doubt it was merely the fact that she was a Christian that got her the pat down. From what I've seen and experienced, some of these TSA agents, when given a uniform and a modicum of power, can be jackasses to pretty much anybody for any reason. The least they could do is act calmly and show some compassion. Alas, you feel as if you're guilty until proven innocent in an airport these days.

And I do feel for the woman in a sense. It can be difficult to question these people directly as to why you were singled out for something, particularly if you're the shy and quiet sort (I am). Of course, you get the standard retort whatever you say.

Slightly aside, I got to experience the joy of the full body scanner when I flew in March. It wasn't a huge deal to me - far preferable to a pat down. The poor guy in front of me, alas, had to go through both.

[dianapavelovna]

I can't believe she "bleeped" the phrase sexual molestation.

[failsafe]

I do not think she understands what the word "profiling" means.

[Guest Anonymous]

It sounds completely odd to me to be so bothered about it all. Though I certainly could understand an abuse survivor feeling differently, most of the fundie bloggers who get upset by this seem only to feel that their 'rights' are being violated.

I seem to get patted down, nearly everytime I fly - I'm not a christian so I can't put it down to persecution. :o

When I travel with children, we always talk about it in advance, and do a pretend practice run with very little ones, so it has never been a problem.

The only time I have ever come across unpleasant security staff was after the 7/7 bombings in London, when staff were obviously under considerable pressure. But the unpleasantness was clearly stress related and was not manifested in bullying.

I always prefer to get the patdown, which is usually done by an efficient and dispassionate woman, rather than having my carry-on liquids taken aside for testing. I hate people messing with my moisturiser and make up. :x

[AuLait]

My goodness, what a drama queen. I have a friend just like this and her attention-whoring always turns the most minor incidents into full blown catastrophes whereas a little grace would have diffused the whole thing. And her whole blather about how her son could have been abducted or molested because he was alone for like 2 minutes, whatever. That's just plain ridiculous and I'd gather that if she hadn't been huffing and puffing like a bull in pen that the whole thing would have been over with quite quickly and her son wouldn't have been "endangered" by being alone for a few minutes.

[Kitten]

One last thought - WHY THE HELL WASN'T HER CHILD TRAINED TO WAIT FOR HER?

I'm not a fundie, and I don't blanket train, and I don't even own any plumbing pipe, but my kids all knew at a very early age to wait for Mom or Dad in similar situations. Maybe he was TRYING to get away from her craziness...

[elliesmash]

I really, really hate it when people bring up "THE FOUNDING FATHERS!!!!!" in any argument like this. There were no planes and no sophisticated, easily-concealed homemade explosives in 1776. Times have changed and policy needs to change to reflect that. (Plus, they keep saying, "The Founding Fathers!" I do not think those men thought the way she thinks they thought.)

[StandingWide]

I don't fly because of this shit. Look up the stats on weapons and hijackers caught in airport security vs. marijuana users. They truly are violating the bill of rights at those gates. However, this beotch is nuts!

He could easily have been abducted or taken into the restroom or even out of the airport as the exit is right on the other side of the TSA security checkpoint, where he could have been assaulted…..or worse….the assaulter could have been prosecuted for s*xual m*lestation…….or worse…

Or worse, the assulter could have been prosecuted for s*xual m*lestation…….or worse…

WTH does that mean?

[celestial]

Or worse, the assulter could have been prosecuted for s*xual m*lestation…….or worse…

WTH does that mean?

I was wondering the same thing!

[PharmDMommy]

What about the right of all the other travelers to be safe? While I do think that some improvements need to be made, I also need my family to be protected while flying. We have friends who were devastated by the 9/11 tragedy and I remember all to well the intense panic and fear I felt that day while we all tried to track down loved ones and the sadness for friends who were not as lucky to have had all of their loved ones come home. I don't want to have that happen again and the world unfortunately has not changed that much. We live in a time where we need to be hypervigalent and sometimes that means we need to be uncomfortable for a few minutes to protect everyone. JMO

[kb2]

I went through one of the scanners about a year before they hit the news. I got singled out and was exasperated because I thought I was going to have to go through every item in my bag or get patted down, and they were like, "Can you stand in our experimental X-ray tube?" and I was like, "Aaaaaaaawesome!" because it was a lot faster and there wasn't going to be any touching. I didn't know how pornoish they were back then. Also, to be honest, I'd let some TSA agent see my soft tissue outlines again if it meant not getting patted down.

She does freak out a little about the whole skirt thing. She seems very offended that they profiled her, but really, "We can't tell if you have a bulky weapon under your clothes," is very different from "OMG, you totes look like a terrorist." And she gets worried that her son was getting separated from her, but it's possible no one directed him to her because he didn't go far away. It's obvious someone cared that they saw a kid unattached to an adult, and she admits he didn't go far, but gets so upset that he wasn't brought right to her side. And really, when was the last time

They might have really been assholes when she objected to being patted down, though.

Also, OMG, she has really cute puppies for sale.

[FundiesInMyFamily]

All of the shaking, crying, freaking out is a bit much... we ALL hate the intrusive pat downs and pompus BS that we get from the TSA. My son is disabled, he has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. About 5 years ago we all went to Disneyworld, and on our way there going thru security his wheelchair of course set off the metal detectors. The idiot $8 an hour TSA guys wanted to take his wheelchair apart and "inspect" it.... mind you this is a $4000 super duper sports off road u can take anywhere wheelchair and I wasn't going to let anyone with an IQ of 12 "inspect" it. My ex and I thew a modest fit (without any tears or drawing any attention to ourselves) and after almost an hour in security and my son being patted down we all went on our way. We got pissed, swore a little, then forgot all about it. No one cried, we weren't scared, and we weren't calling forth the founding fathers to come save us from all this persecution.

With a psychology minor from my BS, I would be interested in knowing any Psychologist and/or Sociologist's ideas as to why these people seem to feel so damn persecuted and violated all the time. Everything is drama.

[SunnyAndrsn]

Okay, we flew internationally about a month ago. I'm not impressed with TSA, but we've found a few things to get through faster.

1. We check a bag, and we take minimal belongings on the flight with us--for longer trips, ID, money, and electronics that we don't want to check (computer, cell phones, kindles, and cameras)

2. I wear minimal clothing--ie, nothing bulky and no layers, slip on/off shoes

3. DH has to wear a belt b/c it's easier with his insulin pump, but he takes it off. We've heard stories of people having issues with getting through security wearing an insulin pump.

All that being said, we've been patted down at various times in various flights. I was patted down coming home from Jamaica. I was wear shorts and a t-shirt, with flip flops. The woman who patted me down was polite and told me what she was doing the entire time. This time, it was DH--again in MoBay. Again, treated kindly and respectfully. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I was wearing a sundress this time, which came past my knees.

That's right, I was wearing a dress that came down past my knees and I did not get padded down. I had no issues getting through security in a dress once we were back in the US either. IMO, she can't claim 'profiling' based on that.

We both have had to go through the x-ray things too--no big deal as far as I'm concerned.

What I DO think is stupid and completely pointless is having me open my bag for one last search once I'm at the gate boarding the plane. And I think it's rude that my husband can't wait with me, WTF? Why not?

I also think it makes no sense that I have to have plastic fork/knife in a restaurant in an airport when I will get a stainless steel fork and knife on the plane.

DH has had TSA ask about his insulin pump, but ignore the bottles of 5-hour energy drink that he forgot about in his bag. It got scanned, but no one ever asked him to take it out. Meanwhile, I've gotten yelled at for forgetting to take out a mini hairspray bottle, although they didn't do anything about it besides yell at me.

Never even blinked at my bottle of Afrin, which I did NOT take out or have in a quart bag.

They act like they are drunk with power, IMO, but because I want to get where I'm going I shut up, try to pack and dress to make it easy to get through, and keep my mouth shut. So far so good--but I'm not fooled that any of this makes any difference to safety.

Anyone remember the idiot on Christmas Day 2009? http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/northwest ... 297&page=1

Dude managed to get a syringe of acid on board the plane. WTF? This idiot caused more hassle for me on Christmas for my flight. The hassle was dumb and completely pointless--we all had to have our check on luggage searched (but not our underwear!!) along with our boarding passes and passports checked again. So who or what did they think they were going to catch with that little search?

[celestial]

With a psychology minor from my BS, I would be interested in knowing any Psychologist and/or Sociologist's ideas as to why these people seem to feel so damn persecuted and violated all the time. Everything is drama.

I think "Kitten" hit the nail on the head above: narcissism. Everything is about drawing more attention to them and their dramas!

[hermione1975]

She is a fucking idiot. She needs to get a grip, shut her trap and get her drama -whore self through security.

I am sure the drama she displayed at security further convinced them that she was A-OK mentally to put on a plane 6 miles up. :roll:

Way to go :clap: keeping it together for your kid. He must be proud.

I have flown all over with my 2 kids (now 3 and 4) since they were infants and I can say that tsa has always been helpful. They see my two babies in the stroller, look at me and ask "are you traveling alone?" :o They would always send an extra agent to help me get the kiddo's through security (you have to send the stroller through the xray or they check it by hand if it wont fit). Yes, I have been patted down but I have never been afraid for my kids because the they were always no more then 10 ft away -usually with TSA putting their shoes back on and putting them back in the stroller.

The only time I met a TSA Robo Cop wanna be was when we were traveling back to the mainland from Hawaii. My husband handed him his passport and boarding pass and was cleared. I handed him my passport and boarding pass as I leaned down to fix something on my baby. He said "Ma'm" -still working with baby "I need to see your face ma'm" I looked up and he looked at the passport photo, then me, photo, then me, photo, me. He then asked "Where are you heading today ma,m?" I could have bitched "What does my boarding pass say? Instead, I answer "Back home to ****". He then checked to see if passport was a forgery. I smiled and said "Your thinking 'No plane's going down on my watch' ". He smiled back "Have a safe trip home".

The man was a dick. He oozed "power trip". I could have tossed gasoline on the fire, so to speak, but I defused it by adding humor and making him smile.

My point being, we must choose our battles.

[Guest Anonymous]

I have a friend who is an "ebil" Catholic and she got pulled down and patted down privately because she was wearing a skirt and they couldn't reach "her groin area". Simple as that. The TSA agent flat out told her "if you were wearing pants we woudln't have an issue"

Personally, i'd always go for a pat down rather than a nekkid scan. Its not like they're gonna pinch my ass or anything, its all business.

[Lillybee]

After the last Duggar episode, I was too lazy to change the channel and watched the Little Couple. They mentioned that they almost always have trouble going through airport security because they both have artificial hips and other metal pieces in their bodies. This time they did the scan and additional pat down and were gracious about it. They did not claim that they were victims of persecution because they were little people.

[Purple]

It took a minute for what had happened to register in my mind. I never dreamed that I would be literally pulled aside without warning, AFTER I had passed through the metal detector with no bleeps at all. And then I realized that Jackson did not know that I’d been stopped and he had kept right on heading for that “unknown†region of the airport that he’d only heard about on phone calls with his little brother. And I was not allowed to go get him.

So she stood there slackjawed for a minute or more while her brain processed the fact that she was being patted down, and during that time, her kid wandered off? How the #@%& is that TSA's fault? The kid probably would have stayed put if she'd been able to scrape together enough brainpower to tell him "Wait for Mommy!".

I explained to them, through tears which I could not stop, what had happened. They explained to me that I “had NO RIGHT TO FLY and that if I couldn’t quietly and unquestioningly submit to their instructions and “authority,†(TSA Agents HAVE no authority and are not Law Enforcement Officers) that I could find another mode of transportation. They insisted they had the power, they had the rights, they had the authority and that I MUST UNQUESTIONINGLY SUBMIT TO THEIR INSTRUCTIONS when I had done nothing wrong to warrant the preceding events!â€

Silly TSA... they should have just called her husband and had him tell her to submit!

[Kelya]

I mean, I think some of the current TSA practices are ridiculous and ineffective, but not acting like a loon really helps you get thru em, you know?

I won't do patdowns voluntarily (triggering), but I always wear pants under my skirt so i can take the skirt off if needed instead of having to model my undies for a TSA lady in private. Contingency plans, yo. Or thick leggings/tights!