If you go through security at an airport and need to be searched they have men search men and women search women. Well I’m straight so the idea of a man patting me down is yucky to me. Why can’t I request a woman do the search?
I think that the theory behind having men search men and women search women is that they don’t want to searcher to get all excited about searching the person. There are two problems with this. One is that there are these people called homosexuals so potentially there could be a male TSA who gets off searching men. And women who get off searching women. The other thing is that maybe what we want are people who enjoy doing a through search. I mean if we think the search is a good idea don’t we want someone who will do a good job rather than be thinking "how lightly and quickly can I touch and still find things?" Maybe we want someone who will find out if that is a gun in the pocket or are they just enjoying being frisked?
OK so some people are uncomfortable with people of the opposite sex touch them. Fine. Let people request what they want. If I will feel more comfortable having a woman who I can at least imagine is both attractive and enjoying touching me maybe I’ll be more cooperative. Clearly I’ll stand still longer. If you want someone of the same gender frisking you fine – equal opportunity for all.
And then these is thing thing about no electronics being on during takeoff and landing. Are airplane electronics systems really that delicate? If they are aren’t terrorists likely to put electronics in luggage and have it automatically turn on when the acceleration of takeoff starts? Has anyone searched through the wreckage of a plane crash and said "Look at this. A Bose headset turned on. I think we found the cause of this crash?"
And what are the number of crashes caused by portable electronic devices (I’m guessing none) compared to the number of crashes caused by Moslem extremists? And yet we still let Moslems on board planes. Of course banning all Moslems would be extreme and ridiculous. But is banning all electronics during take off and landing much different? During take off and landing is when I want my Quiet Comfort II headphones on the most. How about if I wrap them in aluminum foil?
One last thing. I have a peanut allergy and a lot of airlines still give out peanuts on flights. One of these days that is going to cause me serious problems. Not just from the reaction to the peanuts though that is a concern. What I am also worried about is what happens when I pull out my Epie Pen and jab a needle into my leg. Is some passenger going to freak out on me and get me into serious trouble?
I’m flying to Texas next week. I’ll behave and let the yucky male TSA frisk me if need be and I’ll leave my headset off until the all clear but none of that is going to make me feel any safer at all. If they want me to feel really safe they’ll let me bring a loaded gun and ban the peanuts from the plane. But that will never happen.
Disclaimer: This post is for entertainment value only. Not to be taken seriously. Except for the plea to ban peanuts on planes. And even that you can take with a grain of salt.
I think that the theory behind having men search men and women search women is that they don’t want to searcher to get all excited about searching the person.
I think the origins were probably sexist, yet not entirely misconceived: can’t you see some problems with creepy old men being security guards and “frisking” women a bit too much?
Are airplane electronics systems really that delicate?
Plenty of devices DO spew out all sorts of noise. Sit in front of a sensitive HF radio some time and tune the bands. We can tell whether our furnace is on by listening to the ham radio, for example. There’s a lot of use of radio for direction-finding and all, where spurious emissions could cause major problems.
Do I believe that my iPod is going to crash the plane? Not at all. Especially not inside a metal tube. But I can understand the motivation behind banning electronics.
Has anyone searched through the wreckage of a plane crash and said “Look at this. A Bose headset turned on. I think we found the cause of this crash?”
I don’t think it’s ever that clear-cut, but I’m sure that numerous plane crashes have been the result of electronic malfunctions/failures. You can’t really trace down RFI after something is blown up. I’m not arguing for a minute that Bose headsets have caused any crashes, it’s just that you’re not going to find evidence of interference.
I have a peanut allergy and a lot of airlines still give out peanuts on flights. One of these days that is going to cause me serious problems.
I’ve never understood why peanuts are the one thing you’re almost guaranteed to find served on a plane. I’d rank peanuts as “mediocre” on the scale of snack foods, and yet of any of the thousands of snacks that rank more highly, you’d be hard pressed to find one that has half as many allergy issues.
Flying back from Accra, they announced that, “It’s come to our attention that a passenger in row 23 has peanut allergies… Therefore we will not be serving peanuts three rows in front of, or behind, row 23.” I guess they get an A for effort, but an F for avoiding awkward situations for row 23.
If they want me to feel really safe they’ll let me bring a loaded gun and ban the peanuts from the plane.
But what about when you pull out that Epi-Pen after an insensitive clod sneaks peanuts onto the plane anyway and hits you in the face with them accidentally, and the idiot on the other side of you sees you pull out the Epi-Pen, assumes you’re a terrorist, and shoots you in the face?
Disclaimer: This post is for entertainment value only.
The same goes for a large part of my comment.
Except for the plea to ban peanuts on planes. And even that you can take with a grain of salt.
That’s the best way to take peanuts, though. *rimshot*