Monday, August 23, 2004

Defending Our Skies Against the Elderly

Diane Dimond, from MSNBC:

The last I saw of him, a burly airport screener was forcing my frail and faltering 78-year-old father to stand at attention—arms spread—for a wand search. As I watched from the other side of the security gate I saw the man in the uniform point to my father to sit down and take off his shoes.


I'm as shocked and appalled as anybody else that this kind of thing happens, but in truth I'm not surprised. (A couple of years ago in Albuquerque I saw security folks hand-search the bags of an elderly Mexican nun not once but twice.) My mom (who'll be 86 in October) was lucky to have been treated respectfully and courteously by everyone she dealt with in the two airports she went through last week. I'm glad I was there to escort her, and that I was allowed to do so.

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