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TSA Violates PTSD Author: Her Story Told For Those Who Suffer With PTSD
TSA Violates PTSD Author: Her Story Told For Those Who Suffer With PTSD
November 23, 2011 by kaitlyngant | Edit
Kaitlyn’s first flight since the introduction of TSA Radiation Machines and “Enhanced Pat Downs”
Today I flew for the first time since the Radiation Machines and the “Enhanced Pat Downs” came into existence in the United States. Having PTSD, I psychologically tried to prepare myself for the possibility of a pat down. It turned into a much worse nightmare than I had even tried to conjure up in my mind while trying to prepare for it. Prior to this flight I tried to convince myself that others were embellishing, that this really was not happening. That the stories of TSA feeling people up, grabbing crotches and touching breasts, with no legal impact, were not real. I wanted to deny it. Well guess what….it is real! It is worse than I had ever imagined!
The following is my experience on October 17, 2011 flying from Phoenix, AZ to Salt Lake City, Utah:
After removing my boots and stripping down to a light, fairly see through camisole which was under the suit jacket I had already taken off, removing my belt from a pair of form fitting pants (both pieces worn thoughtfully and intentionally to show there could be nothing hiding underneath), I saw the TSA guy sending everyone through the radiation machine.
I am up next in line. I tell the male TSA agent, in a low, non-confrontational voice, “I don’t want to go through the radiation machine.”
In a dramatic, loud voice, for all to hear, he states, “Now since you told me you don’t want to go through the radiation machine (yes, he did repeat radiation machine), I have to wonder why not AND now I HAVE to pull you aside for an “enhanced pat down.” Again, quietly, I said to him, “I simply don’t want the radiation exposure.”
He replies, quite loudly again, for all to hear, “Well we have to wonder what you may be hiding since you said you don’t want to go through it. If you had said nothing, then MAYBE I would have CHOSEN YOU to walk right through. BUT NOW I can’t do that.” “Next time don’t say anything!”
Now Mr. Control Freak (AKA- TSA Agent) gets on his radio calling for a “female agent needed for a female pat down.” After several calls a man wearing blue latex gloves appears. He looks at me smiling while wiggling his fingers and says, “Oh, I guess, this won’t work”. He then laughs. I stare at his perverseness in disgust. Finally, a female “agent” comes to begin the violation of my body.
Having PTSD, I started to panic about the thought of some stranger touching me. This is a huge trigger for me. I felt like vomiting. Rage seared through me as my eyes brimmed with tears. The woman kindly explained everything she was going to do. She sensed my uneasiness and even asked if I had not been through this before. Yet she proceeded in her violation of my body.
She begins, “I will be running my hand firmly and high up your thigh” (interpretation…I will be feeling your crotch). “I will be running the back of my hand down the middle of and around your chest” (interpretation…I will be fondling your breasts). “I will be checking your waistband” (interpretation…I will be pulling your waistband out and looking down your pants).
I said to her, “This is as invasive as going to a gynecologist, only I keep some of my clothes on AND I have a choice to go to one of them OR not”. Her response was, “It’s not that bad at all and it’s better than having some crazy person board the plane.”
After the airport molestation was completed, I was filled with rage. I looked around as I put my belt, jacket, and boots back on only to find no one in my camp. Everyone else seemed to be accepting and continuing on as though no violations against their body were occurring. I am certain these “Enhanced Pat Downs” are also great entertainment for the perverts who were present thinking they were seeing one woman felt up by another. The “agent” offered me a “private room” and I refused because I wanted to stay where I had witnesses if anything should happen.
I feel violated. I feel oppressed. What makes people follow along like a bunch of mindless sheep and not stand up for their rights? What makes so many laugh about being stripped of their civil liberties? What makes a society so accepting and conditioned to airport molestation? They even send their kids through to be violated. What type of message is this sending to our children?
Are we really so willfully ignorant to not see we are being terrorized on a daily basis by fellow Americans who succumb to such practices, who agree to violate their fellow American’s rights for their jobs? Really? What have we become? Are we so mind numbed by all the pharmaceuticals and dumbed down entertainment that we are now robots who do and say whatever we are told? THIS IS NOT OKAY!
I don’t know if other countries have become so desensitized and simple minded as Americans when it comes to total violations and loss of their privacy, but we as a nation should have more respect and pride. Even if I did not suffer from PTSD, I would not want a stranger feeling me up AND I certainly would not let a stranger grope my child under the guise of Airport Security.
I called my husband after this violation and, in rage, relayed the story to him with tears nearly falling. I paced frantically in the boarding area now. I felt like a caged animal. I wanted to scream. I wanted to lash out. Did no one else care about having just been felt up by a stranger? Did no one else see they were just stripped of their civil liberties and their Government is allowing this to happen to control them, not protect them?
I wanted to yell, “WILL EVERYONE WAKE UP??!!” “You simple minded idiots!! What will it take for you to wake up?” “Why do you have no voices, why do you let your Government..which is suppose to be for the people…by the people, keep stripping you of your dignity and self-respect?”
“What will it take for you to fight for your rights and your children’s rights?” “Why is this acceptable to you?” “Why don’t you feel violated like I do?” “If you don’t stand for something of significance, for something that wakes you out of your comatose mindsets then just go away to a private island where apathy, desensitization and ignorance are the norm. Then you and yours can live a mindless, worthless existence while giggling and smiling as the chains of oppression and control become ever tighter around your throats. This will be a place where you can all laugh and follow one another while each of you are being raped and pillaged by your “leaders”. Take your group think to that private island of willful ignorance and let those of us who give a damn and have a conscious left….fight for our right to live and fight for our civil liberties and peace!”
http://kaitlyngant.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/tsa-violates-ptsd-author-her-story-told-for-those-who-suffer-with-ptsd/
I don’t fly at all anymore and it has cost the airlines plenty. The only solution I am aware of is to put pressure on the weakest point – which is airline profits. Decide not to fly anymore (or at least severely limit flying) and write a letter to every airline you have flown on over the last five years informing them of your decision and why. When I wrote those letters, every single airline responded with a polite letter. If enough of us write those letters and stop flying, this entire sorry episode might be ended quite quickly.