The Friendly Skies

DSC_5810 Much is being made of the new scanners in place at airports that depict the human body with more detail than ever before.  These scanners can detect weapons and explosives that metal detectors alone could not.  They also show your junk.

I understand that people aren’t thrilled about airport security screeners gawking.  And I understand that most people don’t enjoy being frisked.  And as one who has flown several times a year for the past decade, I understand the frustration all travelers experience at the airport when forced to remove shoes, belts, and keys.  Flying with a notebook computer or any sort of health and beauty product is a hassle, too.

But for those freaking out today, refusing to be frisked or scanned, I say get over it.  You do not have a God-given right to fly on airplanes unsearched.  It’s embarrassing.  I get it.  But the safety of hundreds of passengers is more important than your modesty.  It sucks that we live in a world in which a small group of determined terrorists ruin travel for all of us.  But that’s reality.  And the same people griping tonight about airport scanners are the exact same ones who would scream and rant if, God forbid, terrorists did sneak a bomb on a plane.

I’ve been patted down at airports on several occasions, and as recently as two months ago the security guard pulled me out of the line and ran his hands all over me.  It isn’t fun.  But neither is dying in a fiery explosion.

Filed under: Current Events, Rantings, Travel on November 15th, 2010 | 2 Comments »