Sterile Area
Aug. 22nd, 2006 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plumtreeblossomReal sentences found by me on the Transportation Security Administration (tsa.gov) website:
***
If a Security Officer can't determine that a [bandage] dressing is free of prohibited items, you will be denied access to the sterile area.
It is recommended that persons using an animal for assistance carry appropriate identification. Identification may include: cards or documentation, presence of a harness or markings on the harness, or other credible assurance of the passenger using the animal for their disability.
Family members or traveling companions can stay with the [disabled] person during a public or private screening. They may, however, need to be rescreened if they provide assistance to the person.
The inspection process may require that the handler take off the monkey's diaper as part of the visual inspection.
Notify the Security Officer if you need to sit down before or during the screening process.
Security Officers will inspect your wheelchair or scooter and sample it for traces of explosives.
If you are concerned or uncomfortable with going through the walk-through metal detector, or are uneasy with having your external component of your cochlear implant x-rayed, you can ask for a full body pat-down and a visual and physical inspection of the exterior component while you wear it.
Security Officers will need to see and touch your prosthetic device, cast or support brace as part of the screening process.
Federal regulations prohibit airlines from allowing passengers to bring their own oxygen canisters aboard to use during the flight.
The security officer should offer you a private screening if you will need to lift or raise your clothing for the ETD sample.
At any time during the screening process you can request a disposable paper drape for privacy.
***
I don't mean to be harping on this, but the above reads like science fiction. Scary, surreal, future-totalitarian science fiction. But this isn't a book you can close and say "Whew, what an imagination that author has!" The author is our government.
I wouldn't be thinking about this so much if travel weren't so dear to my heart. If I had to list the 10 most important things I've done in my adult life, several of them would be overseas trips I've taken. As a single female who usually travels alone, I have almost always been singled out for luggage content searches and extra pat-downs (solo female travelers are high on the suspect list as drug mules. Maybe we're potential terroristas now, too.). But now that everyone is being searched to that extent, what more can I expect to be subjected to if I took a trip? All travelers are presumed guilty until proven innocent, even if that involves a strip search. (Lets see if they come up with government-speak "friendly" jargon for strip search, like "Sub-apparel Safety Screening.")
We were joking yesterday about being scared. But frankly, I am scared. And sad. Sad for the little old men being hoisted from their wheelchairs so their trusses can be checked. Sad for young children who don't know why grownups are making them stand still while a big German Shepard smells their crotch. Sad for me, and you, and anyone who wants to travel but is frightened by the nightmarish frenzy designed to do exactly that: frighten them.
The saddest part? The fact that I felt it in my best interest to make this post non-public. I changed my mind about that.
***
If a Security Officer can't determine that a [bandage] dressing is free of prohibited items, you will be denied access to the sterile area.
It is recommended that persons using an animal for assistance carry appropriate identification. Identification may include: cards or documentation, presence of a harness or markings on the harness, or other credible assurance of the passenger using the animal for their disability.
Family members or traveling companions can stay with the [disabled] person during a public or private screening. They may, however, need to be rescreened if they provide assistance to the person.
The inspection process may require that the handler take off the monkey's diaper as part of the visual inspection.
Notify the Security Officer if you need to sit down before or during the screening process.
Security Officers will inspect your wheelchair or scooter and sample it for traces of explosives.
If you are concerned or uncomfortable with going through the walk-through metal detector, or are uneasy with having your external component of your cochlear implant x-rayed, you can ask for a full body pat-down and a visual and physical inspection of the exterior component while you wear it.
Security Officers will need to see and touch your prosthetic device, cast or support brace as part of the screening process.
Federal regulations prohibit airlines from allowing passengers to bring their own oxygen canisters aboard to use during the flight.
The security officer should offer you a private screening if you will need to lift or raise your clothing for the ETD sample.
At any time during the screening process you can request a disposable paper drape for privacy.
***
I don't mean to be harping on this, but the above reads like science fiction. Scary, surreal, future-totalitarian science fiction. But this isn't a book you can close and say "Whew, what an imagination that author has!" The author is our government.
I wouldn't be thinking about this so much if travel weren't so dear to my heart. If I had to list the 10 most important things I've done in my adult life, several of them would be overseas trips I've taken. As a single female who usually travels alone, I have almost always been singled out for luggage content searches and extra pat-downs (solo female travelers are high on the suspect list as drug mules. Maybe we're potential terroristas now, too.). But now that everyone is being searched to that extent, what more can I expect to be subjected to if I took a trip? All travelers are presumed guilty until proven innocent, even if that involves a strip search. (Lets see if they come up with government-speak "friendly" jargon for strip search, like "Sub-apparel Safety Screening.")
We were joking yesterday about being scared. But frankly, I am scared. And sad. Sad for the little old men being hoisted from their wheelchairs so their trusses can be checked. Sad for young children who don't know why grownups are making them stand still while a big German Shepard smells their crotch. Sad for me, and you, and anyone who wants to travel but is frightened by the nightmarish frenzy designed to do exactly that: frighten them.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-22 07:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-22 07:31 pm (UTC)FWIW, I don't believe there is anything here to cause a problem if posted publically. However if there was anything potentialy problematic, I wouldn't trust your privacy to LJ/SixApart for a second.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-22 07:43 pm (UTC)Yeah, there really are no thoughts here that I wouldn't want anyone to know. Fuck it, I'm making it public because I want my non-LJ friends to be able to see it, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-22 08:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-22 08:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-22 08:06 pm (UTC)Poor monkeys don't want their diapers looked into!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-22 08:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-22 08:15 pm (UTC)That's my hypothesis, anyway.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-23 12:34 am (UTC)I suppose it isn't for everyone...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-23 01:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-23 03:53 pm (UTC)For Easter, my mom and I flew down to Florida. On the way, my mom was pulled aside for a security check. But, again, it was no big deal. They were perfectly polite, quick, and professional.
I think these instructions are mostly there so that there aren't any obvious loopholes for people to exploit. For the most part, I'm sure old men in wheelchairs are not getting hauled out for deep cavity searches. But it's also important to be clear that being in a wheelchair is not a *guaranteed* method to sneak something onto a plane. If it were a guaranteed loophole, then someone would exploit that loophole.
Anyway, I admit I don't really know how I feel about all the security. Some of it certainly feels like overkill, and I don't like being forced to check a bag now (for shampoo, deodorant, etc). But the actual overall change isn't that significant. It certainly doesn't feel like a "nightmarish frenzy", at the very least!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-23 05:53 pm (UTC)