TSA

When TSA started full body checks-I made jokes but what happened today at the Augusta, GA Airport is no joke.  I realize today is a holiday and most of the employees were disgruntled.  I "get" that but we are all Americans and we are all in this together.  This is not Nazi Germany where everyone was poked, ordered to get a tattoo, and herded here and there.

My ninety something mother-in-law (I hesitate to even mention her age-it is no one's business, but our government seems to make this an issue), has macular degeneration-for all intents and purposes is blind,
and has suffered many indignities because of her age and disability.  I think today was the coup de grace; at least it was for me.

We took her and my mother to the airport for a flight home.  We checked her in at the Delta counter and the agent was not overly polite but she was civil.  We then proceede to the TSA for the safety inspection.  She was obviously blind and was rummaging around for her ID-even though she had just shown it to the ticket agent (why can't they work together?).  My mom was holding both  boarding passes.  When the ID was found again she showed the agent and was ushered through the scan.  She walked through and then was ordered to take off her shoes and was made to walk through again.  I knelt down and helped take off her shoes.  I was getting really angry-I am sure most Americans have had it with all this PC stuff.  My mother-in-law was blind, in her ninties and DID not pose a safety risk to ANYONE.  At this point, I began to violently question profiling, what is wrong with it? 

As the insanity continued, one agent walked me back to the Delta counter and suggested my husband & I get temporary passes so we could escort his mother to the gate.  I received the passes and walked back to the TSA conveyor belt, took off my shoes, placed my purse in the bin started to walk through the scan and I was asked for my ID (which was still in my purse).  The agent was already holding my temporary pass.  Again it was the ID snafu.  Augusta is the only airport that asks for the ID and the boarding pass at the same time.  All of this could have been avoided.  TSA-you need to re-think the boarding procedure.

We finally made it through the safety inspection.  My mother-in-law burst into tears, vowed NEVER to fly again and was humiliated.  My husband and I were totally frustrated and couldn't console her in what proved to be a traumatic and unnecessary experience.