Now I think that if there was
a cause that I believed in strongly enough, there wouldn’t be anything that I wouldn’t do to fight for that cause. But I would have to think long and hard to find a good enough reason to roast my own chestnuts and even then I’m not sure that I would come up with anything. I mean the boy was 23 so he must have thought that what he was carrying wouldn’t have been that big enough to completely obliterate him. But then I’ve never really understood that kind of behavior, here of there, now or before.Speaking of nuts, I’ve heard that because of what happened on Christmas, many airports in the US and around the world intend on getting those whole body image machines that can take pictures of the body exposing anything or everything that maybe concealed below a passenger’s clothing. I know now that I will never get a Prince Albert even though I had been thinking about it. It will be bad enough that strangers will be able to see my Little Dorrit w
ithout me having a say so in the matter, but they would also be able to judge me and come to whatever conclusion they will have about me simply by staring at my choice of jewelry. And God forbid that I should ever become famous, that picture would be emailed over the net and TMZ before I would have even found my seat on the aircraft.I remember back when I was child, we had to be well dressed to get on a plane. I had to wear a suit and a tie when I was 10 and travelling with my mother so that I wouldn’t shame her. Nowadays all of that has changed. We will be forced into a state virtual nudity by people making $3 over minimum wage who will map every mole and blemish on our bodies only to discover we will still get onto planes that fall from the sky for no apparent reason.
Little Dorrit? choice of jewelry? LOL you're too much
ReplyDeleteI remember those days of dressing up to get on a plane. Even though I'm not wearing a suit and tie these days I still try to make sure I look decent. Now if I had a body like the guy in the pic you posted. Then could look under my clothes all day long...hmmm or could they...I still want to decide who gets to see my stuff.
ReplyDeleteI feel ya man. But think about it, don't you think that it is a small price to pay, being seen naked, to ensure your safety while flying? I already have to take some sort of sedative when I fly (usually in the form of a pill or a coctail).
ReplyDeleteEduardo - Actually I think I stole the Little Dorrit from someone who was talking about the works of Charles Dickens years and years ago.
ReplyDeleteD - Exactly, it's not about people looking at your stuff but having the ability to decide for yourself who can and who can't look at it.
Cincinnati NAMjA - Personally it's not that big a deal for me, I'll get over it in 5 minutes or 2 if I'm rushing for the plane. But for those men who are uncomfortable having other men look at their wives I can see this as an issue. For those women who dress modestly for religious reasons, I can see this as an issue. For those people who are ashamed for one reason or another about their own bodies, I can see this an issue. Where do we draw the line between individual liberty for which this country was created and security, or is there no line to be drawn?
I hear what you are saying and I think your argument is well stated. The alternative would be for those people to take alternate transpertation. An inconvenience I know, but something has to be done....and without violating anyone's rights or personal space.
ReplyDeleteCincinnati NAMjA - Ben Franklin once saidm "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." The 4th Amendment to the US Constitution says, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause..." Just because you want to take a flight to visit Aunt Harriott in Miami doesn't ,alone, give anyone probable cause to strip search anyone either physically or virtually.
ReplyDeleteI understand the reasons why people would want this, but I know it would be opposed by just as many people and the more I think about it I know that I would be one of them.
The good (or bad...)thing about whole body imaging systems is that they are going to make it so hard for "mules" to carry, er, chemicals stuffed in their digestive (?) tracts. As in the Xmas story, explosives lining your underwear. Shudder. And other things extremists deem fit to carry on board planes. I would not mind showing a bit of me to those officers. Cheers! Mauro
ReplyDeleteMauro - Actually I don't showing a bit skin either, but please don't tell me it's for my own good because we all know it really isn't. Oh and welcome.
ReplyDelete