Staying true to one's principles

[Flea]

Or, putting up or shutting up with the TSA.

To wit: Last week an agency I volunteer with surprised me with an offer to send me to a professional conference in Florida in October. This conference will teach me a lot to bring home to my professional community, and of course offer me a wealth of contacts nationwide.

They offered to pay $400 for my registration; hotel and transit are up to me. My employer declined to kick in any extra. I feel very strongly enough about the whole backscatter/patdown issue that I looked up train schedules. It costs the same financially as flying, but it's 4 days each way from Oregon. Add 4 days for the conference and I'd be out of town for about 2 whole weeks. Add lost wages and a very long kennel stay for Fido to my overall cost, and I'm over $2000.

If I fly and get singled out, I will most likely spend a night in jail. Sorry, just the way it is. And criminal charges are damned expensive on many levels, more so than losing work hours for being crammed into a hurtling shuttle on rails.

It's a pisser because I've been salivating over this particular conference for years. We all face times when we have to choose between principles and other things, and this is one of the biggest decisions I've had to make on that in a long time. It helps that my physical and psychological are an important factor. Martial arts has certainly taught me on that issue. It's also enhanced my courage in following my heart and speaking the truth. It also drastically reduces the likelihood of my (and any TSA agent assigned to me) making it through a patdown uneventfully. MA has definitely made me a better person in some ways I hadn't expected. That fact keeps coming home to me in surprising new ways.

I think I'll just have to suggest they send me to a conference closer to home.

 

[Thesemindz]

Good luck Flea. But you should keep in mind that getting in to it with a TSA agent may mean more than a night in jail. You stand up to them, they will smack you down hard. Because they can't have people getting the idea that it's ok to stand up to them. If you make trouble, they will give you trouble. Lots and lots of trouble.

If you really don't think you can lay back and take it, I'd recommend either not going or taking the train. If you go, you'll go knowing for a fact that you are putting yourself in a bad situation which will have serious negative consequences for you. I don't recommend my students put themselves in that kind of self defense situation, I wouldn't recommend you do it here.

Good luck.


-Rob

 

[seasoned]

I train to fight the good fight, and in my mind, win. But, in everyday situations, I pick and choose when to let my principles dictate certain outcomes in my life. Mind you, this is only my 2 cents, and I in no way am trying to tell you how to manage your set principles, and I only speak for myself. With that said, TSA has a job to do. I will be flying next month, and there is no better way to get across the USA then to board that airplane, so for me it is, "putting up and shutting up". Once on that plane, I have won.

 

[Carol]

Not every airport does the backscatter/patdown thing. Boston does, but mine doesn't and its only 50 miles north of Boston. The airport near my mom's was doing it, but I've since told they have taken the scanners offline and are just doing "normal" screenings.

Couldn't help to check flight schedules, and check with business travelers to find out if you can get there without the scan.

It also couldn't hurt to determine if the conference really is all that. Conference promoters are hella good salespeople, and where you're spending your own money to get there....ensure that what you know you will get out of it is truly of value.

Florida in October can have its challenges. When my ex and I were married, we spent our honeymoon in the Keys, as well as one of our anniversaries. The date was mid-October. I was concerned of hurricanes, my atmospheric-scientist ex said the Keys don't get hurricanes. Bwaaahhaaahaaa. Each time we were given a mandatory evacuation off the keys and escaped to Miami beach. The second evac was Hurricane Irene. We didn't lose power/AC/TV, but the eyewall went right over us, and we heard reports of four people in Miami-Dade losing their lives. Irene was only a cat 1. I don't think it would be wise to go there without budgeting for weather or travel delays, especially where you're on the hook for your travel.

Just some things to think about

 

[Kacey]

That's rough... but honestly, I've never been patted down. I follow the guidelines for packing my carry-on, wear easily removable shoes, wear no jewelry (I put it in the carry-on) - I've never had a problem with it. There are costs for all kinds of things, and all kinds of costs - only you can decide which costs are payable, based on your experiences and principles, and where to draw the line.

 

[harlan]

I don't understand the reference of 'backscatter'. Is this a matter of perceived loss of dignity, or an infringement of personal liberty?

In the first case, no one can take what you don't give. And in the second, sounds like an ego attachment. If it seems like a 'matter of principle', then which is the higher principle? Fighting 'the system', or acquiring knowledge to help others?

Personally, I'd put on bells and booby tassels if I wanted to attend that conference so bad. And enjoy the show.

 

[Nomad]

This is a tough one, and a reason that I try to keep my principle's somewhat fluid.

Keep in mind that flexibility is one of the prime principles of martial arts, and that wisdom lies in knowing how and when to choose your battles.

I don't like the idea much either, and likely would have freaked out if the TSA in their infinite wisdom had decided that one of my daughters (12 and 8) needed a "security grope" on our recent trip... fortunately all my family saw while travelling was the standard stuff that they've been doing for years. No backscatter nudie pics (that we knew about, at least), no mandated molestation.

Not saying it doesn't happen (obviously it does), but we were lucky enough not to encounter it. It probably helps that both ends of out trip originated in fairly small (albeit international) airports.

 

[Flea]

Harlan, it's both. But it's mostly about the creep-factor of unwelcome touch of any type. It's one thing if I can cause a scene and humiliate a frotteur, or simply take someone down. I can live with that. It's quite another when I have to close my eyes and Think Of England because it's in a (wannabe) "official" capacity where resistance comes with a heavy price. I respect myself enough to not volunteer for that.

Personally, I'd put on bells and booby tassels if I wanted to attend that conference so bad. And enjoy the show.

:roflmao:

Harlan, if I do I promise to post pictures. :fanboy:

 

[Buka]

Maybe you can approach it as research "Know Thy Enemy" and go through it with attention to the details and minutia of the TSA uglies. It can only add to your spirit, and to your overall readiness to defend injustice in the future.

Every time I fly, which has been a lot this last decade, I get pulled out of line and given the complete shakedown. Apparently, I have "that look". It was okay when I was a cop, but not hardly as much fun now that I'm retired. I used to fly armed a lot, not for business, but just to mess with TSA. Now, I'm never armed, but I still like to mess with TSA. I just make sure I give myself enough time to make my flight for being detained.

Just keep in mind one thing. TSA has NO power to detain. They have to call the cops for that.

 

[Flea]

I love my Droid, but its size can be a disadvantage for conversations sometimes. It's a bit clunky for hand-holding, so I have a tendency to use the speaker function instead. Occasionally it warps the sound on the other end and can make me hard to understand.

This morning I called Orlando International Airport and asked them if they use the backscatter machines. The TSA feller kept saying "I'm sorry? I don't understand? Do we what?"

"Use the backscatter machines."

{pregnant pause} "The .. backstabber machines?"

At which point I burst out laughing and said "No, the ones that see through your clothes!"

Turns out they use them at both of Orlando's airports, so that's that. I politely informed him that I'll be spending my tourist dollars elsewhere.

My last hope was that one of the city's airports would be safe, making it worth the trip. I'll go back to the agency that offered to send me. If they offer to pay more to cover the difference in transportation types I'll reconsider, but I won't ask.

:wah: