The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has received plenty of scrutiny this past week over a June 18th incident. According to reports, TSA officials forced a 95-year-old woman, stricken with leukemia & bound to a wheelchair, to remove her adult diapers when questions arose during her pat down at a Florida airport. The woman’s daughter, Jean Weber, filed a complaint against TSA, telling the press “It’s something I couldn’t imagine happening on American soil.” As an opinionated blogger, this stuff better happen on American soil.
On Sunday, TSA reviewed the incident and said everything was done by the book. Per protocol, they patted down the 95-year-old as all people in wheelchairs are subjected to the pat down. After determining something suspicious on her leg, they assisted the woman into a private secluded room to further continue the inspection. It said it never forced the woman (who has not had her name released) to remove her adult diaper. Weber confirmed this, saying it was her idea to remove the diaper once officials informed the pair they wouldn’t be allowed to board their flight until they can inspect her diaper. TSA allowed Weber to get her checked-in luggage as she did not bring an extra diaper with her, but she declined as she was not sure how long that would take and did not want to miss her flight. The suspicious feeling ended up being a soiled diaper. The 95-year-old was cleared by TSA officials but had to fly back to Michigan commando unfortunately.
First off, I would have viewed this ordeal as God’s way of saying “Don’t go to Michigan, ever.” Second, I have never had to be the responsible caretaker for someone who wore diapers (babies, incontinent, or elderly) before, but if I were, I’d probably keep an extra diaper or two in my carry-on bag if we were flying. Last, a lot of people are viewing this episode as abuse of power. They are questioning how a government agency can take the last of an elderly woman’s dignity by subjecting her to this. What were the chances this woman had a bomb in her diaper? Extremely low, but there was still a chance. We live in a world where people have successfully boarded a plane with a bomb in their shoes & underwear, and where people were able to take control of four planes while wielding box cutters. We have developed a system where the government is trying to stop this. They can’t just randomly select Muslims at an airport security checkpoint for additional searches. That’s called racial profiling. Everyone has to be treated the same. Suspicions arose during her pat down. A pat down anyone in a wheelchair would have gotten. She wasn’t selected because of her age or gender or arbitrarily.
It’s unfortunate this innocent woman had to go through this, but TSA did its job. Whether it’s a child or the elderly, this agency needs to make sure it does everything in its legal capacity to make sure each airline passenger is not a threat to national security. Since 9/11, the rules have changed. We have to remove our shoes now before going through the metal detector. We have full body scan machines. We can’t masturbate on airplanes anymore (Thanks a lot Bin Laden.) Sure, its inconvenience, but without it, we could possibly have 9/11 times 2,356. And nobody knows what that is.
-Written by Marcus Boyd
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