Airport Indignities
Posted by Lauren | Under Opinions of Sorts, Travel with 924 views Friday Oct 31, 2008Let me warn you that this is probably going to be the most scattered entry I have on such a touchy subject but I don’t really have the time nor the patience to attempt to be politically correct at this moment. Right now I am sitting at the domestic terminal of the San Francisco airport, waiting for a flight to Chicago and I had a not-so-pleasant experience getting from the terminal entrance to where I am right now.
I know that the rigorous airport inspection at the entrance is all standard procedure, you know, just in case I have a bomb up my crotch, but just because this was standard procedure doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to feel slightly humiliated throughout the entire thing. I had been warned that the security inspection at the entrance would be incredibly thorough. First you have to place all your things on trays and stuff, then you have to step through a chamber where they blow air all over you - I have no idea what the fuck that was for. Then more metal detector like inspection before they finally let you through. It sounded like such a pain in the ass but I figured, if everyone has to go through it, I’m not gonna make a big deal about going through it myself too.
But I was wrong. Apparently, not everyone goes through the humiliation of getting inspected in public for being a potential terrorist. If you’re carrying a US passport, fine, you can go on ahead and place your things on the conveyor belt but wait - you have a Philippine passport! You’re like, poor and stuff right? You guys have a Communist party with an armed wing that we considered as terrorist groups, don’t you? And hey, weren’t you like a former colony of the United States? You guys must be mighty angry at us for fucking up your culture, government, and economy! Stand right here please, you look like you want to blow up our country.
So maybe the airport inspection people didn’t put it that way but they could have been that forward and crass and I would have probably liked that better because at least it was honest. But no, they had to shield their suspicion with a sheet of saccharine niceness that was sickening. I was horrified when they singled me out of the and told me to step aside, “away from your companion,” they specified, referring to Ale. “Don’t make any eye contact with him,” they added, as if, I dunno, blinking at him would activate the bomb I was hiding somewhere in my body. Then I stepped through the air chamber that blew bursts of cold air all over my body. It was at this point that I noticed that nobody else but me and Ale was going through the whole cold chamber, no-contact inspection. All because we carried foreign passports. I was starting to get pissed.
Then I stepped out of the air chamber and rejoined the rest of the passengers who were being inspected. Except the only things that were being inspected on the other passengers were their bags. The airport people started running all these metal detectors all over my body and again I realized I was the only one who was being so thoroughly checked. I couldn’t look at anyone’s faces because I could feel their eyes watching me, and at one point I actually had to blink back tears of rage and restrain myself from shooting sarcastic statements at the inspector person like, “Look, I could make your job tons easier by removing all my clothes right now, down to my underwear, just so you can make sure I have no fucking bombs strapped onto my body. Because right now, being naked in front of all these people wouldn’t feel any less humiliating. Hell, if you want to really make sure, I’ll even let you look between my legs and up my ass.”
At this point, I’m pretty sure I sound like an overly defensive foreigner in America, and maybe I am being a little too sensitive and too proud for my own good. But if you had been there, standing in front of everyone and getting inspected for being a potential terrorist in front of all the passengers just because you’re not an American citizen, I’m sure you would have felt something similar. And if you’ve ever experienced the same rigorous and humiliating inspection, then felt nothing because you thought that what they were doing was for the protection of the passengers on the plane, well fucking shame on you. I am telling you now that the whole spectacle of the inspection was done to protect everyone from you, the non-American potential terrorist. If I were you, I’d feel furious. And I would like to let you know that I am furious at you for not being furious at the indignity of the whole thing.
I want a cigarette but smoking a cigarette means stepping outside of the airport and stepping outside the airport means having to get inspected all over again. And if I have to go through all that one more time, I will throw a hissyfit that will convince them that I am indeed a terr-rist. And maybe offering to have them look up my crotch for any hidden bombs won’t even make them think otherwise.
WTF.
Those TSA workers are complete numbskulls.
That air blowing thing detects particles of bomb material, though I have no clue why they’d suspect you. Geez.
Oh I told you about that air chamber! The air chamber blows away particles from you and a machine checks for gun powder residue. the thing is I was with my sister so she was in another inspection area for American citizens. I had no eye contact to make. I felt angry, humiliated and upset the first time but 4 airports after (and all with secondary inspection), I started feeling numb about it. I saw that the secondary inspection is done to all foreigners and not because I was a Filipino.
It’s just SOP but I wish they were more humane about it like “sorry maam, we are doing this for the safety of the plane…” or they should also include random American citizens for secondary inspection.
You will still get secondary inspection en route Chicago back to SFO. Just cooperate and don’t take it personally. I got over my initial feelings after the first experience.
Anyway, treat it as an experience.
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I’m an American Citizen (Filipino descent), born & raised in Chicago, Illinois and yet I experienced the same humiliation from those “racist” TSA. Here at O’hare international, you will be subjected to the same humiliating experience because you’re a foreigner and of course not “white”. If it could happen to me, a native born American, what more to those foreigners who comes in here for a visit. I still believe it all comes down to the color of our skin. Racist Bastards!!!
My little girl, your Mom is right! Treat it as an experience. As I told you I have written up half the TSA crew at San Francisco, due to the fact that they would also submit the Pilots or Flight Attendants to the same treatment!! They would often call my office for “clearence”, even though they had “Crew Ids” and had undergone very rigid background checks!
At least you and bf got to travel in “FIRST CLASS”!
Your poor Mom and Tita got stuck in storage!
Oh damn, that was humiliating. Heck, if they even made a Philippine Senator take off his shoes, what about us poor, defenseless, citizens who may or may not be human bombs?
And echoing thegreatest up there, they’re numbskulls.
Ades last blog post..NaNoWriMo, Fanfiction
i’d be a hypocrite if id say that there is no such thing as racism. living here in the US for nine years, i too had my own humiliating experiences. but i think what theyre doing at the airport can also be beneficial to you and the rest of the passengers. maybe if they were as thorough before 911 as they are today, perhaps that devastating incident might have been prevented. however, being singled out like that (because of your race) definitely gives you that humiliating feeling. be thankful nalang that theyre doing their job to give you a safe trip.
anyway, enjoy your vacation.
Garlands last blog post..3 am
Howdy! That was a nasty episode you had in the land of the free to discriminate against foreigners.
You know, you don’t have to go to the US to experience something similar. Right here in the Philippines, in most fastfoods and malls, security measures have curbed freedoms we once took for granted. This happened to my family at Jollibee when we were taking a video of our little niece and nephews inside their store. We were approached by the manager and guard and informed that taking videos within the premises was not allowed. I had to get special permission from the head office to do that, they said. While they were talking to us, all the other customers were looking at us like we were criminals or something. Pity that it was the birthday of my niece and now it was ruined.
If you think about it, too much security can destroy the very way of life that it claims to protect.
I’ve been inspected like that plenty of times in Australian airports… but they seem a little bit more random with it in Au… they’ll screen forieners and Australians…
Fionas last blog post..And we’re in
The sad part is, most of those bothersome security procedures don’t really make anyone much safer. Yay for security theater.
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Its a damn shame. They act like just because you’re not a u.s. citizen that you want to blow up this country. If somebody really wanted to drop bombs on you, they wouldn’t be paying your airlines to do it. But I don’t feel like getting into that anymore, cause I’m gonna get all pissed offy.
I’ve been there and done that! Though we weren’t really inspected the second time around, I know how it feels. SFO’s really rigorous in terms of bomb-checking and the whatnots. And.. what more! At JFK, in New York. It’s fucking huge and you’ll get to remove your shoes and your belt for three times in a row! It’s UGH.
You can’t really erase the fact that these inspections and interrogations are oftentimes demoralizing.
My Dad was once ALMOST inspected the second time around since, by the looks of it, he’s Iranian or something. The heck.