Today I had my first my first full body scan. I must say that it happened all at once, I was not expecting it. There were not many people at the Fort Lauderdale airport, so I picked what looked like the shortest line at the security check point. I went through the standard process, taking off my belt, shoes and my hat, then putting my computer and my iphone in a separate bin. This time, instead of going through the metal detector, I was directed to a separate machine. I watched as the person in front of me stood inside the machine with her hands over her head, almost as if she was being arrested. What is this? What is going on here? Without explanation, the TSA officer asked me, “do you have anything in your pockets?” When I said no, she replied “then what is that in your shirt pocket sir?” I had some papers in there. “Take them out, and everything else in your pockets including your wallet and put them on the belt.”
I did not like parting with my wallet at all. I did not know at the time but it was going to be out of my sight for a while. What I was going through suddenly reminded me of a scene in the movie Schindlers List where the Germans put the Jews in lines, barking orders at them, stripping them of all their possessions, telling them it was all going to be alright before sending them off in train cars to you know where. That may sound a little bit extreme, but whenever I go through airport security it makes me feel a bit naked and out of control, but this was just the start. I was directed to go inside the machine, turn sideways and stand with my feet spread on the green floor markers. I was told to put my hands above my head and stand still for several seconds.
As I was standing there I realized that somebody was actually looking at my naked body. My kids would say – god, that poor person… Again, no one had asked my permission to do this, nor did anyone explain what they were doing to me. Who was this person that was looking at me in the monitor? Were they male or female? Where were they? Was it just one person or a group? How much of me could they see? Was I subjected to any radiation? Can someone please tell me what is going on here?
I must have passed the security check because after a few more seconds the TSA officer waved me on. He seemed to be listening to someone in his ear piece, presumably the person(s) in a room close by. That made it feel even more strange. I decided to ask the TSA officer what this machine was and whether I was just exposed to radiation. He had a vague answer about the machine and said I should not worry about radiation because I would be exposed to a lot more during my flight, not very comforting. I was feeling pretty frustrated, enough so that the officer sensed it, in return I sensed that if I continued to press the issue there maybe a verbal confrontation that I was going to lose real quick.
My government just put me into the body scan machine without asking me for permission or explaining what it was. Maybe they are right, maybe I should just accept what they are doing is best for me and the country and stop asking questions. Just “trust” them. Maybe all this really is making will us more safe. I was not feeling that way today. I think it is mostly the unilateral way that it was imposed on me. By the way… is every airport going to be doing this to everyone around the world? Otherwise wouldn’t a terrorist just go to an airport that does not have one of these things? These guys are smart enough to bring down the Trade Towers they can probably find other ways to terrorize us besides airplanes. Shouldn’t we have one of these machines at every school, mall, amusement park and office building?
I was once again pissed off at Osama bin Laden and company for scaring the crap out of a whole generation of people and enabling all this insanity to become normal. We are slowly and steadily losing our rights and I don’t feel any safer. I just have a sense there are these people out there plotting against us in caves and basements around the world. Where is all this headed? What are the real answers to reducing the terrorist threat? How many more freedoms do we have to give up? How many more security checks, spies, cameras and listening devices do we need to feel safe?
My 12 year old nephew got on airplane yesterday to fly to California, his first time alone on a six-hour flight. Before he left he told his mom he was afraid he might fall asleep and wanted to try to stay awake for the whole trip. When she pressed why, he said had been thinking about 9-11 and was afraid he would unconsciously say something in his sleep about bombs and be arrested. Thank you very much terrorists, you did your job well, trust is destroyed and our children are scared.
As we are seeing, the cost of mistrust is enormous. This is why I am on the Trust Tour and why I need your help. We have got to find ways to snuff out fear, our quality of life depends on it. Are these body scanners going to make us safer or are they another way the government will invade our privacy? What do you think?
Update 08/08/2010 http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2010/08/05/am.meserve.body.scans.cnn
