My last update was Dec. 5 when the snow came. It was pretty, and it didn't stick around very long. We haven't had any really bad weather since then.
I'll start catching up with a bit of a rant. This rant is directed at the TSA (Transportation Security Administration). A good friend of mine was supposed to come visit me for Christmas. You can already tell by that statement that it didn't happen. Why? Because of the TSA. My friend was able to present her ID to the curb-side check in, and receive her printed e-ticket boarding pass. Her bags were checked and sent on their merry way. Due to an auto accident, my friend was in a wheelchair at this time. She goes through the TSA security checkpoint and was DENIED boarding the plane. Why? Because, without her knowing it, her drivers license was expired. That's right. She was not allowed on the plane due to an expired drivers license.
TSA says that the ID was not valid. Excuse me, but 1) she wasn't trying to drive the plane, so what if the license is expired. 2) even if the license is expired, the person standing in front of you is the same person in the photo on the ID you are holding in your hands, with a complete address. 3) no where on either the airline's website, nor on the TSA web site does it say the drivers license can't be expired. It doesn't even say the license has to be valid. Yes, it says a passport has to be valid, but not a license. Don't believe me? Here's the link. As of this writing, the exact words are:
If you have a paper ticket for a domestic flight, passengers age 18 and over must present one form of photo identification issued by a local state or federal government agency (e.g.: passport/drivers license/military ID), or two forms of non-photo identification, one of which must have been issued by a state or federal agency (e.g.: U.S. social security card). For an international flight, you will need to present a valid passport, visa, or any other required documentation.
I called the airline and TSA and spoke with three front line employees and three supervisors. None of them could provide documentation that says the license can't be expired, nor could they provide documentation that says the drivers license has to be valid. Yet they still denied my friend boarding.
The last TSA supervisor I spoke with said, "It's a security risk" I asked how it was a security risk. She couldn't tell me. "It just is." I said, okay, if this is a security issue, then please explain to me how, by your own policy, you don't even have to have a photo ID to board a plane. You can get on with just 2 forms of non-photo ID, one of which must be issued by a state or federal agency. This means that anyone with a computer and a cheap printer can copy off a Social Security card, print it out on card stock, which can be bought at any office supply store for five dollars, steal someone's wallet and combined with a stolen credit card and a cheap knock off SS card, they would be allowed to board a plane. At least a drivers license has some security and anti-duplication things in it to make it harder to forge. This is not a security issue, this is just some minimum wage screener flexing what little bit of power tripping authority they have been given.
The supervisor had no answer for me. But my friend was still denied boarding the plane, and the next day, came down with a terrible congestion and cold, so an entire week was taken away from us. Thank you TSA.
Folks, this country is NOT concerned with safety. They are merely doing something...anything...to make it look like they are doing something. I'm sure the extra screenings are in some small way keeping us marginally safer than we were before September 11, 2001. But is it really worth the extra inconvenience we are all going through? If it really made a difference, I would be all for it. But not being able to profile suspects? When 15 of 19 terrorists all came from the same country, that's not racial profiling, that's being mildly observant. And in the mean time, little old ladies are being strip searched because their wire support bra that keeps their tits from scraping their knees sets off the damn metal detectors.
Benjamin Franklin said it best, my friends. ""A people that would sacrifice rights and freedoms for a bit of safety deserve neither the freedom nor the safety." And I'm beginning to believe, we don't deserve to be free and we don't deserve to be safe.
~peace
