I was once chastised by a female muslim TSA agent (mentioned only to indicate she was fully covered, including wearing a head covering), for my stomach showing when I was putting my belt back on. I was taken aback and angry at the inappropriateness, and the judgment — and for god’s sake, I was just putting my belt back on!I left Casey’s mention of the agent’s Islamic dress in because it potentially goes to agent’s motivation, i.e., a TSA agent imposing their religio-wingnut views on a passenger. And that’s just as relevant in this case as it would be if a religious right TSA agent chastised someone for violating their biblical views (and you know we’d be all over them if they did).
I asked Casey at which airport, and when, this happened. She said it was definitely last year, but doesn’t recall which airport, though it was definitely a major American city. More from Casey:
She gave me a judge-y look and then said something along the lines of “cover up,” and pointed at my waist where I was re-dressing myself after un-belting for the X-ray thing. I asked her to repeat it, and she did (vs. backing down from it). It was exceptionally strange and disconcerting. I didn’t respond because I was in shock about what had just happened, and couldn’t think of what to do in the moment.
![If we can see your belly button, the terrorists win. (Belly button via Shutterstock)](http://americablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/belly-button.jpg)
If we can see your belly button, the terrorists win.
Mind you, the only reason Casey wasn’t “covered up” is because TSA made her take her belt off.The TSA is a huge organization – one report said there were 58,000 employees – and personally, I’ve had really good experiences with the TSA when I fly. They’re nothing but courteous with me, especially when I fly with my dog (and only people traveling alone with a baby can fully appreciate just how nerve-wracking it is to go through airport security with a wriggling dog). And, in my experience, the TSA is far better than the crew we had working airport security before.
But as I noted in the other post, they’re in a position of power, and are a quasi-police entity, so it’s important that abuses be highlighted and corrected.
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