more on DO READ THIS DJF -- AggressiveSearches Pat-down Searches/Sexual Harassment at the Airport

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: 
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 19:41:04 -0500
To: <dave () farber net>
Subject: RE: [IP] more on DO READ THIS DJF -- AggressiveSearches Pat-down
Searches/Sexual Harassment at the Airport

PLEASE WITHHOLD MY NAME FOR MY PERSONAL SAFETY.

A few days before Christmas
I fled an abusive marriage via a small airport in the South, a location
dominated by a high security military installation. I paid cash for my
one-way ticket, knowing full well I would trigger all the security buzzers.
I am a woman in her 50s and dreaded what I feared would be a humiliating
search. I explained to the ticket representative at the airport why I was
paying cash and buying a one-way ticket. She was very sympathetic, in fact
flagging my name so that if anyone inquired he or she would not be told I
was on any flight. My check-in baggage was routinely checked by security and
I was flagged for the full personal security check for ticketed passengers.
I explained again to the security personnel at that check point why I bought
my one-way ticket with cash. The men and women were without exception
courteous and sympathetic. Yes, I was wanded and patted down by a woman, who
explained what she would be doing and used the back of her hand when lightly
brushing her hand over my breasts. The airline held the plane for 10 minutes
so that I could make it in time for the next plane out of the city to my
destination. 

I am an outspoken civil libertarian who loathes the Patriot
Act and the totalitarian direction of the current regime. I feel I no longer
live in the country of my birth, a country of the Declaration of
Independence, The Constitution and The Bill of Rights. I would have voted
for Donald Duck had he run against Pres. Bush and had a chance of winning.
But, fair is fair, and in this isolated instance I was treated with respect
-- apart from the fact that the basic premise that such searches serve any
purpose is spurious.  




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