While I don’t normally post on this blog anything that is not related to Web Design (focusing on Expression Web, Dreamweaver and web standards) sitting at Denver International Airport I can’t help but comment on my experience today.
I’m ashamed of my government right now.
To give a little background I was scheduled to fly out of Denver Airport back to Houston on Tuesday after spending Christmas in Breckenridge, CO with my in-laws. Two days ago I received a phone call that told me my aunt had passed away and the funeral would be on Monday. So I went to the Southwest Airline website and changed my flight from going to Houston on Tuesday to going to Nashville on Saturday. I applied the cost of my ticket to Houston to my new Nashville flight and paid the difference using my Southwest Visa. One associated with my frequent flyer account (which has enough miles in the last year for 4 free round trip flights so I think you can say that I am a frequent traveler.)
So today I arrive at Denver airport after driving through a snow storm from Breckenridge, go to the Business Select check-in for my one bag I’m taking to the funeral. Then I go to security. From the Business/First Class line I pull my computer out, take off my shoes, put my coat in the bin and put my computer backpack (with my purse inside it) and go through the metal detector.
The TSA guy then says step in here, put your feet on the yellow marks and raise your hands over your head”. I asked him if this was one of the full body scanners and he said “yes”. So I refused. I’ve seen how those scanner work on Good Morning America last week and frankly, I consider them to be unreasonable search under the US constitution. So I’m told to go in this glass booth while they call a female TSA officer to do a full body pat down. She arrives and is pleasant & business like (other than a comment on how soft my sweater is.) No real problem there though having to sit down while the soles of my feet are patted down through my thin socks was rather silly.
The TSA guy who was put out by my refusing to be subject to a full body scan tells the others that my carry-ons are to be subject to a level 2 security search. So now I get to walk in my stocking feet over to the tables set aside for such screenings. I will say that one of the other officers kept my computer, purse & computer bag where I could see them at all times while the pat down was taking place. Something that I appreciated.
Now over to the tables, where every compartment of my computer bag was opened and every pocket emptied. My iPhone & its case, my external hard drive & its case, the adapter for my computer, my GPS, my pocket camera & Flip were all wiped down with some explosive detector. Every compartment or pocket of my computer bag that held an electronic device was wiped separately with an explosive detector as was my shoes and the inside of my purse that held no electronics at all.
I was then told that I could have my possessions back. So I start repacking my bag since things were left hanging out of pockets so that the zippers wouldn’t close and I couldn’t put everything back in it that had been there before TSA searched. When I was partially repacked the TSA checker came back and said they needed to re-xray my purse, wallet and iPhone/case. WTF? When he returned with those items he started going through two of the compartments AGAIN. There he found a credit card size tool I was given at TechED 2008. The tool consisted of a sliding case that had a compass on the outside. When the case was open a square with a bottle opener was exposed. One side was marked so you could measure (in 2” increments), a flat screwdriver blade was on one corner while the other had a can opener with a small point. This was confiscated and I was told I could exit the security line, return to the Southwest desk and check my computer bag. Right, I don’t know about any of you but my laptop isn’t going to be checked on any flight much less one that is delayed over an hour (so far).
Now you may have noticed that I said this little tool was given to me at TechED 2008 and has lived in my computer bag ever since. Since that time I have taken at almost two dozen flights where I have passed through security with that tool in my bag. Its gone to Denver at least 4 times, to Seattle, to California, to Nashville (for my grandmother’s funeral March 2009) and not once has it been questioned but today when I refused a full body scan which if I had seen it I would have simply chosen one of the other 11 security lines that didn’t have a full body scanner behind the regular scanner) it suddenly is too dangerous to allow me to take on an airplane. Never mind that even if someone had a lot more strength than I do would never penetrate to a depth that would cause more than a surface wound. I could do more damage with the ball point pen in my computer bag than I could with that tool. Oops, guess I shouldn’t have said that since next time they’ll confiscate my ballpoint pens from my bag.
I’m in favor of security at airports but I’m not in favor of violating our constitution in the name of “security” when those security measures violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure. Maybe it is time for me to put my attorney’s hat back on and join the ACLU or something but frankly the only reason that I was singled out for this intensive scrutiny seems to be because I did not submit to having a full body scan.
My so called “last minute ticket” given as a partial reason for the level two screening was nothing more than a change in an itinerary book a month earlier. I checked bags, paid with a credit card that was linked to a frequent flyer account that would show trips booked with anywhere from 1 day’s notice to three months notice (depending on why I was traveling – business, family emergency or vacation). You tell me how a middle aged female traveler with an extensive history of airline travel within the US (and some overseas to such threatening countries as England, France & Mexico) is such a threat that every item in a standard computer bag needs to be searched, tested for explosives and subject to a full body search (either by hand or machine)?
I want to know what happened to the constitutional guarantee against unreasonable search & seizure under the 4th amendment to our constitution.