No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Free Shoebox – at least his genitals!

by @ 6:26 on August 20, 2010. Filed under Free Shoebox.

Hey, hey, ho, ho, Shoebox should be free to go!

Yes, I’m traveling again. Actually, it’s the first time in an airport since the Shoe family relocated to Kentucky. This morning finds me enjoying the hospitality of the TSA at Kansas City International (MCI).

For those who haven’t had the pleasure of passing through MCI, let me set the scene. MCI was built long before anyone ever worried about members of the “religion of piece” flying airplanes where they shouldn’t be flown. MCI has 3 separate half moon shaped terminals which were great in their day. However, since the addition of security walls, checkpoints etc., it now resembles a human version of a habitrail!

I got to the airport well in advance of my flight and was greeted with my first experience with a backscatter X-ray. Yes, this is the X-ray that is all the rage. Yes, this is the X-ray that takes images that shows more than just metal in your pocket! Yes, this is the X-ray that TSA claimed they do not keep the images of pseudo naked people. Yes, this is the X-ray that TSA has been forced to admit that they do keep images of pseudo naked people.

As I’ve said before, I have no personal issue with the backscatter technology and the images the TSA does or doesn’t keep. This is likely a guy thing but I figure if you can see my genitals while my clothes are on, that’s OK!

So, I head through security and towards the backscatter X-ray. As I get to the stainless steel tables where I normally take all the metal out of my pockets, remove my shoes, liquids and electronics, I am greeted by a TSA employee who informs us that they are now using a “new security system.” He goes on to inform us that this new fangled security system that is costing gross millions of dollars to deploy, is no longer satisfied with just having shoes, metal, liquids and electronics removed. Nope, this new fangled thing is so advanced that you now have to empty every last item out of your pockets; paper, vitamin pills etc…and your belt! If you don’t, I was informed, you will be patted down!

Yup, that’s right; the newest the TSA has to offer for security, the backscatter, a technology that can take a photo of my genitals without a microscope, can’t tell the difference between a piece of paper and something that could be used to threaten aircraft saftey!

Nice job TSA! You’ve taken a process that was inconvenient at best, and made it dehumanizing. You’ve inserted new “better security” and once again in the process, managed to make it further impacting on the public you serve while arguably not making a lick of difference in air security. Nice job TSA!

As an aside…do you know what you call 100,000 government employees at the bottom of the ocean?
A: A good start!

3 Responses to “Free Shoebox – at least his genitals!”

[No Runny Eggs is proudly powered by WordPress.]