Hi, Mark!

Fancy seeing you here! :)

They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, Secret
Service agents who are members of the President's security detail[emphasis mine], 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning former Governors.



. . . Suspicious looking arabs should be searched as should anyone who acts suspiciously.



Extra Credit Question: The Secret Service agent who was barred from an American Airlines commercial aircraft was:
a. Yosemite Sam
b. listening to hip hop
c. a Dominican priest wearing the habit of his order
d. an Arab male between the ages of 17 and 40

Officials from American Airlines said they were concerned about inconsistencies in his paperwork concerning his sidearm. He was kept off not one, but two planes, the second because he was reported for acting suspicious. The suspicious activity was apparently calling the Secret Service to confirm he was who he said he was.

This begs the question, "What is suspicious activity and how do you define it?" I remember an episode of "All in the Family" in which Mike is getting ready to go for an early morning run with Lionel. (For those unfamiliar with the series, Mike is white and Lionel is his black neighbor.) When Archie, Mike's father-in-law, asks Lionel why he wanted Mike to run with him, Lionel answers, "Mr. Bunker, if you saw a black man -- running -- early in the morning -- in this neighborhood -- what would you think?" Archie nods sagely and says, "I see what you mean, there, Lionel." Running While Black = Flying While Arab? At least two American Airlines pilots seem to think so.

Your philosophical attitude about being searched is admirable, Mark. What do you think your attitude might be if your appearance was enough to get you barred from a flight, your complaint enough to get you barred from a second, you miss your business appointment or your sister's wedding, and your boss is not someone whose intervention is probably pretty important, like maybe the President of the United States?

Regards--
Mary Anne