The TSA does it again.

The TSA’s finest hoiur

It is pretty sure bet  that the TSA is the nation’s first line of defense when it comes to catching terrorists.  The Tennis shoe incident and the underwear incident are attestations to that.  It is a bit difficult to imagine the TSA wanting to examine a baby with its “filled” diaper as being a national threat.  But then we come to David Markham.  How is it that David poses a nation al threat?

The last thing Bill said to each child as he kissed them goodbye at Bradley field was “Take good care of your sister (to David) and Take good care of your brother (to Sara).

Last night Sara related the excitement at Bradley Field and the swift action of the TSA on behalf of the nation.  Both of them had a little time before their respective  planes left and they had to go through the Back Scatter detector.  David set off all kinds of bells and whistles and the TSA rushed him to a safe room.  Sara said they were rapid fire questioning him as they took him and they wanded him and strip searched him to no avail and they even searched through all his belongings in his carryon.  After what seemed like an eternity, they finally understood that he worked on  a grounds crew and deals with fertilizer which shows up as bomb making material at the TSA level.  WHEW!  I am glad that the nations security is in the vigilant hands of  the TSA.  David is now a celebrity and pretty much the talk around the water cooler of the bravery and exactness with which the various members of security and TSA nabbed him and prevented him from flying – until they had satisfied themselves that he is no threat.  Sara said she was glad that she as there to be of help to her brother as he faced the TSA.

Apparently residue from the fertilizers that he works with stays on his clothing no matter how much or how little they are washed.  Makes me wonder why Phoenix did not ferret him out when he first started out on the weekend in Connecticut?

Come to think of it, if some long robed individual wished to make a statement, what better place than at the pile up of people waiting to have their boarding pass and ticket checked at the security check point?  I fly regularly so I will be suspicious of such individuals but on the other hand perhaps we will all be required to wear  hot pants and spandex and be barefoot as we fly so as to avoid the situation that David found himself in.  Perhaps that should have been the requirement instead of going to the expense of all the back scatter XRay machines and pat downs and hordes of TSA workers.  I have observed these individuals who regard each and every traveler as suspicious   but let the long robed swarthy turbaned individuals through without batting an eyelid – remember, we don’t want to be accused of profiling here.  David is the least of their problems.

comment from a friend: Dear Beverly,
Hey, if I can be stopped because my shoes don't pass, or the heat patches that I have to wear to fly -- the last time my ankle bracelet was questioned -- why shouldn't that SHADY character David be stopped?  (By the way they deemed that it was probably the Noxema skin cream that might have set off the sensors, but not the bomb sniffing dogs.)
B