The Inside Story

The Tulsa International Airport has installed the latest generation of scanners. The glass cases use electromagnetic waves to generate a full-body scan, which reveals everything beneath the passengers’ clothing, not just metallic objects.

The major concern from people is that the machines produce full images, which of course includes their “private parts.” As a half-salute to privacy, the scanners blur out faces.

This doesn’t really bother me. What bothers me is this quote from one of the TSA screeners:

"I don't look at them as people. I look at them as a thing that could have something on it."

That explains a lot about the way we get treated when we’re in the cattle lines at the airports. I’ve traveled enough that I know how to minimize the hassle, but even when I go out of my way to acknowledge the folks on the other side of the machines as human beings, there’s a distinct lack of reciprocity.

I remember the first time I was asked to remove my shoes at an airport. It was in Birmingham, Alabama, and my first instinct was to say “Now…I know you’re from Alabama, and aren’t familiar with these things, but they’re called shoes, and we use them to protect our feet.”

Glad I managed to rein that in, or I’d be on a “No-fly” list for sure.

I’m waiting for the first scans to show up online. It's inevitable.

I wonder if TSA-TnA.com is available.