Doesn't Anybody In The Government Read?!!
It seems a bookmark is a foreign object to those "protecting" the annoying and unfriendly skies. The very pretty, very sweet-looking special-ed teacher, Kathryn Harrington, 52, was arrested for trying to carry an ordinary monogrammed leather bookmark through airport security, writes Jay Cridlin, in the St. Pete Times:
For the past month, Kathryn Harrington has stared down the possibility of a criminal trial, a $10,000 fine and the stigma of being deemed a security risk at Tampa International Airport.The reason? She had a bookmark with her as she passed through airport security screening.
"It was a bookmark," Harrington said. "It's not a weapon. I could not understand why I was being handcuffed and put into a police car. I cried for hours."
See the photos within the link -- of Harrington and her "weapon." Apparently, even items that "could be considered dangerous" are illegal to bring on a plane. Hello? I could put your eye out with the heels of many of my boots. Should I go barefoot on the plane? Do you feel safer now?
Heck, I could rip the earpiece off my glasses and do a heck of a lot more damage than that ol' bookmark...
bev at September 18, 2004 11:39 AM
And my Dragon Lady-length press-on nails could make the skies a VERY unfriendly place.
Lena "Don't Go There!" Cuisina at September 18, 2004 12:38 PM
And clearly, anybody who knows karate or the like shouldn't be allowed to fly.
Sicilicide at September 19, 2004 11:51 PM
I understand the issue but I fear you are missing the bigger point.
Note: TSA is in charge of security at airports, both as screeners and in the innerds of the airport. They can open your luggage to inspect it, cutting off locks (including special TSA locks that they have the code for) without anyone watching them. There are already a number of cases of TSA screeners stealing items out of luggage.
OK, so what is my point? The government is doing its usual rotten job at security. They arrest old ladies and women with bookmarks. They steal items our of luggage with out worry of being arrested. All this and more. All the while receiving failing marks for pretty much every simulated terrorist attempt.
Its the government mantra. Look large, spend money, waste money, do a bad job at what you have been tasked with. Just ask me, I work for a branch of the government. We only do better because we are full of engineers and scientists and they are so bad at politics. :-)
Norm
Norm at September 20, 2004 1:20 PM