The TSA, a National Establishment to Be Proud Of

Today Ted and I are at Midway Airport in Chicago, hoping and praying that we eventually make it home this evening. So far, we’ve had two flights canceled, and visibility is getting worse by the hour. It’s not looking so hot right now. But, at least we have our healthy snacks, and though I sometimes feel dumb for carrying around several gadgets, right now I’m thanking the heavens for technology. Between the two of us, we have a laptop, a Blackberry, and an iPhone; and you’d better believe we’re using them all for the sake of keeping ourselves entertained (and sane).

Due to all of the cancellations, we were advised by the woman at the Southwest ticket counter to avoid checking our bags until we were actually getting on a plane. As a result, I had to take all of my toiletries - conditioner, a styling product, contact solution, and a few other things- through security, and you know what that means: confiscation.

The TSA guy was nice about it, at least, but it was depressing to watch tens of dollars’ worth of toiletries just taken away. A few things were nearly full, like my Pangea lavender body oil, and that hurt. Mostly, though, the bottles were close to empty. It kills me that a six ounce bottle that’s mostly empty, containing at most an ounce or two, is still considered above the three ounce limit because of what the bottle COULD hold. I guess that the TSA aren’t big practicers of common sense.

Though the sting of knowing what I’ll have to pay to replace those things was sharp, what bothered me the most about the whole thing was how wasteful it was. It’s bad enough that travelers have to use all those baggies; I don’t like to think about how many travel-related plastic baggies end up in landfills every month. So when I saw my own bottles being added to that count, and started thinking about other people’s bottles, likely containing more hazardous chemicals than mine did… It was a harrowing thought. What a wasteful proposition modern travel has become.

But what’s the alternative? Never traveling? That would be inconvenient for some, and impossible for those whose jobs rely upon their ability to travel across the country or internationally. And what about those of us who have family members that require travel for a visit? What about our friends? No, I don’t propose avoiding travel entirely as a reasonable solution to the problem.

I’ve thought about this a lot, and though I haven’t been able to come up with a solution myself, there must be a better way to make air travel safe without causing so much waste. There are many people smarter than I who could possibly think of a better system than the current one. Where are they? Do they all work for the companies who produce plastic baggies? Because that would explain a lot.

Precautions against terrorism are required in today’s political climate, but our current measures aren’t sustainable. Terrorism may never stop, and I believe that the way we respond to it as a nation is very telling. Decades from now, when our children’s children are having to deal with those millions of baggies in the landfills, I wonder what our legacy will really be.