Tuesday, June 28, 2011

TSA Now Groping Grannies

In an absolute lack of basic common sense, the TSA decided it had to crack down on a 95 year old cancer patient in a wheelchair. Don't know who does their reasoning for profiling, but a retired Nurse, wearing depends, in a wheelchair as a frail 95 year old, is not a likely candidate for terrorism.
In fact quite the opposite-- she was making a journey to see remaining family members in Michigan &  checks into a care facility, in that state.

On Monday, after the story became public, the TSA is now denying they required her to remove the Depends (adult diaper). What they did was say she's not getting on the plane as long as there is an unidentified hard spot between her legs (the Depends has a gel that absorbs).
So by saying she was not getting on the plane w the Depends on pretty much meant, she had to take them off, or she could not fly.


"While going through security, the 95-year-old was taken by a TSA officer into a glassed-in area, where a pat-down was performed, Weber said. An agent told Weber "they felt something suspicious on (her mother's) leg and they couldn't determine what it was" -- leading them to take her into a private, closed room.
Soon after, Weber said, a TSA agent came out and told her that her mother's Depend undergarment was "wet and it was firm, and they couldn't check it thoroughly." The mother and daughter left to find a bathroom, at the TSA officer's request, to take off the adult diaper.
"My mother is very ill, she has a form of leukemia," Weber said. "She had a blood transfusion the week before, just to bolster up her strength for this travel."
Weber said she burst into tears during the ordeal, forcing her own pat-down and other measures in accordance with TSA protocol.
Did you catch that? Her being upset & tearful about the ordeal caused the TSA to scrutinize her escort daughter, who had planned on, and had received special permission to take her elderly Mother to the entrance of the plane!
Eventually, Weber said she asked for her mother to be whisked away to the boarding gate without her, because their plane was scheduled to leave in two minutes and Weber was still going through security.
By this weekend, the 95-year-old woman -- who was not identified by name -- was doing "fine" in Michigan, where her niece and her family "was treating her like royalty because they love her so much."
"My mother is a trouper," Weber said.

The TSA released a statement Sunday defending its agents' actions at the Northwest Florida Regional Airport.
"While every person and item must be screened before entering the secure boarding area, TSA works with passengers to resolve security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner," the federal agency said. "We have reviewed the circumstances involving this screening and determined that our officers acted professionally and according to proper procedure." *

So this is what it's come to? Frail elders have to be "troopers" to make it through misguided TSA searches that results in not being able to wear underwear/ adult diaper for her flight? Kind of wish that Grandma would have peed on the TSA handler when she went for her additional security pat down without Depends. Secure this!

* Quoting CNN


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