I just got “nabbed” by America’s finest…the TSA. I forgot a bottle of water in my backpack. This water bottle has made the trip through numerous checkpoints, but always empty. This morning, I forgot to empty it.Well…my water bottle became the proverbial “tip of the iceberg” for my TSA experience. Because I had a bottle of water, they “randomly” tested my bag for explosives…and it tested positive. Once the alarm was set off, one TSA “expert” patted me down while another did the “alarm positive” paperwork, while another checked through ONE of my bags thoroughly. (I have to ask – why didn’t they check BOTH bags of this suspected terrorist? After all, I WAS guilty of carrying a water bottle…)
I asked what types of things would cause a “false positive”. She said, “Heart medication or sometimes even hand cream.” I joked that I had heard a commentator say, “The LAST person that needs to be told they test positive is a heart patient.” (I though the implication was obvious…that the stress wouldn’t be good for a heart patient.) Her response? “Terrorists take heart medication too.”
Huh?! The BROKEN logic of that response is a good sign to me that she should be relieved of her role in screening passengers -- TODAY. Is it heart medication we are screening for here? I thought it was explosives we were guarding against, not prescription medication. Terrorists can have allergies too. Should we start screening for Claritin as well? (I confess…I had some in my bag. Arrest me now.)
The statement upset me was when she said, “You can’t trust anybody these days!” That statement is blatantly untrue. You can trust me. She stands at the checkpoint every day and sees evidence that the MAJORITY of the people passing through the airport can be trusted. (Except that you can’t trust certain conservative Christian guys to remember that they have a bottle of water in their backpack…)TSA exists to protect the general traveling public against the VERY unlikely “bad guy” trying to get on the plane. I have traveled a lot, and I have never –to my knowledge – met anyone who turned out to be one of those bad guys. I would venture a guess that my “friend” at TSA this morning has never met one either. We can’t buy into the philosophy that “you can’t trust anybody”. If we do, the terrorist have won!
You’ve GOT to trust people. I am about to step onto a plane and TRUST a pilot I’ve never met, but I don’t plan to interview him or put him through a sobriety test. I left my vehicle in long-term parking in Washington, DC when I began this trip. I am trusting literally hundreds of people to leave it alone. And it works! You can trust MOST people for the basics in life. While I understand that TSA can’t just assume everybody is OK, I refuse buy into the philosophy that “you can’t trust anybody”.
Here is some interesting reading I found while I was writing this post.
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Recently we said goodbye to Melody's parents when they flew back to Canada. We were standing in the queue with them while they waited to check in. A staff member came and asked Melody and me if were traveling too. When I answered no she asked if we could leave the line. I asked if we could stay as we would not be seeing our family for a few years. She kindly obliged.
But it got me thinking. Security is so much tighter these days that once they checked in they needed to consider going through security pretty soon. We walked over to the door where people pass through to customs. There were various families there saying goodbye to each other. There was a zig zag line of tape leading up to the door that never used to exist. There were security guards breaking up precious family moments, telling them to not stand near the departure door.
I can see a time coming soon when families will not even be allowed in to the airport when saying goodbye. These days Melbourne airport is so bad with expensive parking that it is hard to drop some one off near departures.
It is becoming clear that people are not welcome to farewell or greet travelers, mostly because of security concerns.
I made a facebook statement "compassion is being sacrificed at the altar of fear in society." Some liked my statement, at lease one person blasted me because people in society are all so good and how dare I say that people have lost compassion.
Anyway, you get my drift....
Let's continue to live real lives and shine the real love of Jesus in the midst of all the darkness and impending tyranny. At least the gospel is exploding in other parts of the world such as China, India and Africa (that all still have way more troubles than us), even if our respective countries are falling away.
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