Story Archive

Becoming Alarmed Yet?

“I don’t understand why they have to put them through that kind of procedure,” said Jean Weber of Destin, Fla., after putting her mother on an airplane. The unnamed woman, who is dying from leukemia, was given “extra” security screening because she was in a wheelchair. Transportation Security Administration screeners took 45 minutes to clear the woman, during which time they demanded Weber remove her mother’s adult diaper. “It’s something I couldn’t imagine happening on American soil,” Weber said. “Here is my mother, 95 years old, 105 pounds, barely able to stand, and then this.” A TSA spokeswoman explained that “During any part of the [screening] process, if there is an alarm, then we have to resolve that alarm.” (RC/Northwest Florida Daily News) ...At some point, Americans as a whole will become alarmed at the security screening process.