Airport "Security"
Jun. 7th, 2003 02:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aOakland airport "security" sucks. This is the fourth trip I've taken since 9/11 following: Hawaii in October 2001, Milwaukee in the Summer of 2002, and St. Louis last month (and isn't that a nice set of trips: one for vacation, one for work, and one for family). The "security" on our Hawaii trip was ridiculous. Metal detectors uncontrollably went off if you had gromets in your boots and the "security" personnel were randomly searching every fourth person's carry-ons, irrespective of troubles. (The other two trips saw ridiculous, needless security, but weren't quite as bad.)
This trip through Oakland International was almost as bad as that Hawaii trip. We knew we were in for fun, fun, fun when we saw the "security" lines stretching about a hundred people deep. And, part of the partoblem was the general incompetence of how the security was run. Cleraly, the airport has gotten used to atrociously long security lines because they've gotten very casual about letting people cut in line if they're a pilot or a stewardess or late for a flight or know someone working at security or once worked security at another job or ... whatever. And, of course, that makes things run slower for everyone.
The other problem is that Oakland is running the seucirty at a ridiculous level. No more wearing jackets through metal detectors, of course, but Oakland was also requiring you take off you're shoes if they're more than an inch high. [Apparently a general rule now, as we faced the same at the Sea-Tac airport on the way back -SDA] In addition, the "security" men were flagging about every third bag for a thorough search.
Kimberly's was flagged because she had a very dangerous hairclip in her bag. Yeah, it was made of silver & crafted into weird Celtic knotwork, but c'mon.
As we stood, watching the security stooges slap each other & poke each other in the eyes, Kimberly leaned over and asked me how much security I thought this added. I brought the forefinger and thumb of my right hand together into an "O". Zero.
The only purpose I can see for the idiotic new airport "security" measures is a simple bit of indirection--the magician's art--to keep the American public's eye off of what really matters.
That's right folks, it's not about the economy, in its third year of freefall. It's not about Bush's regressive tax programs which are shifting the tax burdens from the rich to the poor, increasing the disparity in this, the most unequal first world country, where 1% of the population controls 40% of the wealth. It's not about our misguided, manipulative, and abusive corporate policies, where we treat the rest of the world as our personal oil field and our poverty-stricken labor force.
No, folks, it's about those evil terrorists, and lucky you, George W. Bush and his patriotic security goons are protecting you from them by making you take off your shoes.
Don't you feel better now?
This trip through Oakland International was almost as bad as that Hawaii trip. We knew we were in for fun, fun, fun when we saw the "security" lines stretching about a hundred people deep. And, part of the partoblem was the general incompetence of how the security was run. Cleraly, the airport has gotten used to atrociously long security lines because they've gotten very casual about letting people cut in line if they're a pilot or a stewardess or late for a flight or know someone working at security or once worked security at another job or ... whatever. And, of course, that makes things run slower for everyone.
The other problem is that Oakland is running the seucirty at a ridiculous level. No more wearing jackets through metal detectors, of course, but Oakland was also requiring you take off you're shoes if they're more than an inch high. [Apparently a general rule now, as we faced the same at the Sea-Tac airport on the way back -SDA] In addition, the "security" men were flagging about every third bag for a thorough search.
Kimberly's was flagged because she had a very dangerous hairclip in her bag. Yeah, it was made of silver & crafted into weird Celtic knotwork, but c'mon.
As we stood, watching the security stooges slap each other & poke each other in the eyes, Kimberly leaned over and asked me how much security I thought this added. I brought the forefinger and thumb of my right hand together into an "O". Zero.
The only purpose I can see for the idiotic new airport "security" measures is a simple bit of indirection--the magician's art--to keep the American public's eye off of what really matters.
That's right folks, it's not about the economy, in its third year of freefall. It's not about Bush's regressive tax programs which are shifting the tax burdens from the rich to the poor, increasing the disparity in this, the most unequal first world country, where 1% of the population controls 40% of the wealth. It's not about our misguided, manipulative, and abusive corporate policies, where we treat the rest of the world as our personal oil field and our poverty-stricken labor force.
No, folks, it's about those evil terrorists, and lucky you, George W. Bush and his patriotic security goons are protecting you from them by making you take off your shoes.
Don't you feel better now?
