Travis Smith: my resume, bio and photos back to the main blog page

They Didn’t Touch My Junk

posted at 11:01 pm
on Jan. 10, 2011

Comments: 4 so far

Permalink

 

Previous entry:
Stop Six: Los Angeles

Next entry:
Death, Nearby

So I got a security pat down today.

At the Los Angeles Airport, I was told not to go through the metal detector line.  The other path was through a narrow mini-gully—two large looking blocks without a roof on it, like two entertainment cabinets back to back.

I asked if it was the X-ray scanner thing, and the lady said, the backscatter scanner, and I said yeah that, and she said yes, and I said I opt out.  And she looked non-plussed.  Non-minused, too.  Non-anything, except a little surprised.

She told me to walk right through it, which I did VERY QUICKLY in case they wanted to sneak a shot of my johnson anyway, and stood near my bag and shoes.

I got called over to another guy, who was very polite and clearly had memorized a script, and he explained that he was going to use the front of his hands to become close acquaintances all over me, but for sensitive areas he was going to use the back of his hands, so we wouldn’t have to “go steady.”

The pat down is really more like squeegeeing a window dry with your hands—he basically ran his hands down every vertical portion of my body, and down my arms, and up into “the cleft”.  He didn’t search my bummish region, and he didn’t do anything I’d have to pay for in other circumstances, but it was the most thorough body search I can ever remember having in my life.

Was it invasive? It was very uncomfortable and close up; if I had issues with being touched, it would have left me freaked out.  As it was, the only reason I was nervous was that I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, or if my opting-out was going to cause a kerfuffle.  Next time, it wouldn’t really phase me.

On the other hand, if I’d had an eight-inch knife blade taped to the bottom of each foot, they never would have found them; I didn’t go through the metal detector and I didn’t get asked to lift my feet.

So, is it better security? Probably. Is it fool proof? Nope. Is it worth it? I don’t think that’s knowable.

The TSA is like a really rich guy who owns a lottery company, who is buying up scratch lottery tickets as quickly as he can, trying to keep everyone else from winning. When someone else does “win”—any prize, not just a grand prize—he gets criticized, and when no one wins, he gets told he’s stupid for wasting money.

So, I think the new scanner machines are dumb and potentially hazardous, and I will continue to opt out; but as long as I’m treated with the respect and boredom I got today, I’m not going to be too put out by the whole thing. I’ll save that for the truly offensive and abusive things the TSA seems to do.



 
 

 

Previous entry:
Stop Six: Los Angeles

Next entry:
Death, Nearby

Overheard

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

...who said it?

“Almost every American I know does trade large portions of his life for entertainment, hour by weeknight hour, binge by Saturday binge, Facebook check by Facebook check. I’m one of them. In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or writing, or working, or spending real time with people I love.”

...who said it?

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

...who said it?

“I play with variables constantly.”

...who said it?

“Only the person who has learned Continual Love coming from a heart of Gratitude/Worship can effectively deal with the problem of loneliness.”

...who said it?

Comments

 

 

Add a Comment

 

 

Name:


Email: (optional)


URL: (optional)


Submit the word you see below:


 

 

 

Your comment:


Remember my personal info


Email me about follow-ups


 

Syndication Links


Click here for the main
XML feed for this blog.



Column only



Side links only



Quotes only

 

MetaBlogs

AboutBlogs

Clients

Humor

Journalism

Los Angeles

Mac

News

Personal 1

Personal 2

Photos

Politics

Other A-F

Other G-Q

Other R-Z

SocialNetworking

Tech 1

Tech 2

Travel

Vancouver 1

Vancouver 2

Vancouver 3

Vancouver 4

BizBlogs

Back to Main

 

Powered by
Expression Engine

 

Copyright 1995 - 2024 Mar 29

 

 

Want Column?

Enter your email address:


It will NEVER be shared.
Unsubscribe

You can scroll right easily by holding down the SHIFT key and using your scroll wheel. (Firefox users trying this will end up jumping to old Web pages until a) Firefox releases a fix, b) they change their settings like so.)