I'm not an air traveler. I don't have a reason to be one. I don't often travel outside my "bubble" of the Chicagoland Area. I have flown in an airplane, but not in the last couple of years. That being said - All this hubbub about the TSA screening vs the TSA pat downs has me wondering.
On one hand - if you don't want to be subjected to the screening system the solution, as far as I see it, is simple - don't fly. There's no rule that you cannot drive to your destination. Or take a bus. Or a train. Travel by air is the preferred method due to the time constraints we as Americans put upon ourselves, however it's not a requirement to get from point A to point B.
On the other hand - Say I HAVE to get to California TODAY due to some horrible catastrophic emergency, there's no way I want to have my 13 and 15 year old daughters subjected to strangers "feeling them up" or looking at them on some machine. As an adult I can rationalize that fact that this is how air travel is now, it's for the "greater good" and all that jazz, but I can't imagine any parent would feel comfortable with subjecting their children to this system.
It really is a... Catch 22? Is that the phrase? How about "your damned if you do and damned if you don't"? I guess that pretty much sums up what I mean.
I think my real question is not the here and now of the security screening system, but the long term affects. I'm reading that some people are fearful of the scanners due to radiation and what sort of health issues they can cause. The TSA is assuring the public that these machines are not harmful to our health, but how can they really know that? My mother and a good friend travel a lot for their jobs. They go through the scanners at least twice a month if not more. What if the government finds out that the constant and repeated trips through these machines is linked to cancer or some other horrible disease? What kind of compensation will the government issue to those afflicted?
Several years ago I suffered from adult acne. It was horrible. I was getting huge pimples all over my face. Not only were they unsightly, they were painful as well. After several attempts with various prescription acne medications my cosmetologist decided that I should try Accutane. This medicine was so powerful, I had to watch a video, take a blood test for pregnancy, sign several consent forms, and study a binder of information (I'm not kidding about this. I had a 2" 3-ring binder that was imprinted with the black and yellow caution colors) before my doctor could prescribe the medication the first time. After she prescribed the medication for me I had 7 days to go online and answer 10 questions about the medication correctly and then I could only get the medication from an approved pharmacist. The pharmacist had to verify that I had answered the questions before he/she could dispense the medication. I was not allowed to be in the sunlight at all or I risked getting 3rd degree burns. I couldn't drink alcohol at all. I could NOT get pregnant. Before my doctor could prescribe the next months medication I had to take another blood test to verify I wasn't pregnant and that all my enzymes and other organ functions were working correctly. Then the whole thing started again - answer questions, go to the approved pharmacy, etc...
I was on this stuff for a total of 6 months. I was taken off the medication by my doctor because my liver enzymes started to rise and wouldn't go down. At the time I thought this was a miracle drug. For about a year after being taken off it I never got a single pimple. I'm starting to get them again, but not nearly as badly as I did. However, I got notification in the mail recently that the use of Accutane has been linked to stomach ulcers, Crohn's Disease, and other health issues. Luckily I haven't had any problems with any of these, but what if I had? Would the health issues after the fact be worth not having the acne? It's easy to sit here and think "Yeah. My acne was so bad it hurt to talk sometimes." I've never had ulcers before, but I've heard they're painful. I've never had Crohn's Disease, but I used to work with a guy who did and when it flared up he was in bad shape.
Maybe these are just things we have to deal with if we want security. If we want progress. If we want better looking skin?
No comments:
Post a Comment