Shweta Saraswat
What I hate most about flying is the security check. I don’t mind the wait, or having to take off my shoes, or cramming all my embarrassing hygiene products in a transparent Ziploc for the world to stare at, or being taken into a cubicle to be privately patted down.
I just can’t stand the way everyone else looks and acts supremely annoyed during the process.
Since the attack on the World Trade Center, security has understandably shot up in airports around the country; however, after a few years, Americans have lost their patriotic high.
Instead of remembering the reasons for the long, labyrinthine security checks now in place, many people focus instead on the pain of bending over and unlacing their shoes. And then, (‘oh, my back!’), having to put them on again.
Sure, it’s not laziness most of the time.
It’s the idea of privacy – the haziest right in the Constitution.
To what extent are people allowed privacy? Who determines it? Do the parameters change during wartime?
The argument revolving around tight airport security (and, on a higher level, controversial legislation like the USA Patriot Act) is a result of the attempt to heighten security during dangerous times while still maintaining a basic sense of privacy and freedom.
On one side, there are those who shudder at the idea of any level of government intervention in their lives, even if the nation as a whole is threatened.
On the other extreme are those who feel that during times of war and crisis, the right to privacy can be trampled on to no end.
Personally, I think we have a patriotic duty to our country in this uncertain day and age (cue the Star Spangled Banner).
Not to be facetious, but I honestly think that as Americans, we need to buck up and do what we can to make our country a little bit safer.
Asking for privacy in a time like this, when threats are being neutralized daily around the nation, is a little selfish.
I don’t ask that everyone divulge their personal records to the police or take any extreme action.
Just be a little more understanding. Like your mother says, it’s for your own good.
So, instead of grinding your teeth while waiting to get your luggage riffled through by some stranger, remember why we’re doing all this.
If you have nothing to hide, it shouldn’t be a problem.
I say this with no political agenda. All that aside, I’m just a person who wants to be safe when she travels.
You can bet that the next time I fly, I’ll happily take my shoes off, even if my socks have holes in them.
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