Where do I begin? I have been an avid traveler for many years now and have had my share of disturbing encounters with these folks.
I have been blind for a very long time, much longer I think than TSA has even been in existence. There was a time when my blindness stuck out like a giant neon sign on me but times have changed; in most situations at least. I literally go anywhere and do whatever I want and never worry about being treated differently because of my blindness. This is how 90% of my daily interactions go. Not when I have to deal with TSA. It is more often than not; an uncomfortable experience for me.
For some strange reason I’m usually the one selected for the “random” pat downs, as if the fact that I’m a member of a minority makes me more suspect. I might be a terrorist posing as a harmless blind woman, don’t you know?
I really get tired of this nonsense. What really frustrates me is that all they need is a little training; the right kind of training on how to properly process a blind person through one of their check points without violating every one of our personal boundaries all the time.
Let me tell you exactly what I mean. They need to learn, the proper way to guide a blind person, the proper way to ask a blind person if you can hold their cane and the proper way to tell a blind person how and where you want them to stand. These are all things that seem to come naturally to most humans; not when they work for TSA though.
Some of these experiences have been really bad. Let me give you some examples of what I’ve experienced when participating in TSA’s antics.
Some years ago, I was at my home airport with my two sons, a girlfriend and her son. We were all taking a trip to Disney World in Orlando. When we were going through TSA an agent grabbed my arm, raising it up over my head like I was trying to evade him or something, and just started dragging me away from where I was standing with my two small children! He didn’t communicate with me about why or where he was taking me, he just was. All I could do was yell over my shoulder to my older son to stay put, keep his little brother with him; I would be right back, I hoped. But how did I know? Like I said, the agent didn’t even bother to tell me what was up.
After having heard horror stories about what had happened to other women when they were left vulnerable to TSA, I was concerned to say the least. I was also concerned about my two children who I had been forced to leave behind.
The male TSA agent took me around a corner out of sight of my two small children and they frisked me down. I was so concerned about my children. I was also trying to deal with the myriad of emotions that were cascading through my body as they were doing this to me.
I felt violated as I was being frisked. I felt fear for the safety of my children. I was also struggling against my horrible anxiety about being out of control of my own person. All of this I was having to contend with but I only had time to just shove my feelings down inside to deal with later.
I can actually feel my stress level rising as I walk towards the TSA lines at the airport these days. I’m very frustrated by this situation with TSA. I feel so helpless in their presence; I never know what crazy situation might arise next when I go through one of their check points.