The other day when I had to go through the full-bod scanner at Dulles Airport, I did a silly go-go dance for the security officer scanning me. Of course I couldn’t SEE that person but I hope he or she was laughing. I hope he got a good eyeful of a passenger having a bit of fun with all the security measures we all have to endure now because some crazy schmuck might have a bomb in his panties.
You have to laugh or you’ll cry. Make ’em laugh. You are the light of the world. GOD, we can be so dour and heavy sometimes. No wonder so many people cringe when they see a collar walk in the room. “Here come the buzz-stompers for Jesus.”
I forgot to tell you about something that I did on an airplane a bunch of years ago. A very large man boarded near departure time — I mean very large, like maybe 400-500 lbs. The flight attendants were openly derisive of him. He got seated (he had purchased two seats from what I could tell) and raised his hand for a flight attendant. When the male attendant approached him, he asked quietly for a seat belt extender. That nasty creature called to the back of the aircraft, “LINDA, THIS GUY NEEDS A SEAT BELT EXTENDER!!” He was almost openly laughing. I was so furious. I raised my hand and yelled, “I NEED ONE TOO, PLEASE!”
Cultivate your a gently rebellious spirit and random acts of solidarity. Make a noise.
Help make the world a no-shame zone. Don’t let the bullies and the bummers have the day. Fight back with love and wit.
Rock on.
And let all God’s people say Amen.
Oh, you ROCK!
Well, I personally think that YOU ROCK. I feel old and tired today so it’s nice to think that a happening new super stah such as yourself thinks I rock. *galumphing off to bed*
Awesome. You indeed rock.
We certainly do need a No Shame Zone. That’s one of my biggest pet peeves when people take it upon themselves to shame others. An incident that really sticks in my craw was when I was driving and I misjudged the timing of the oncoming cars for me to turn left. I had started to turn and thought better of it, so I was hanging a teensy bit into the oncoming lane. The man who was driving the oncoming car wagged his finger at me as if to say “shame on you”. I was incredulous that some random person would take it upon themselves to shame another person for an honest mistake. I couldn’t believe it.
Well behaved women rarely make history.
You are my freakin’ shero. I’ve never encountered any airline staff that blatantly rude, but I’m going to put this little story in my toolkit.
Why does the dancing baby from Ally McBeal come to my mind?
I’m glad that you were able to find a positive way to cope with “all the security measures we all have to endure now because some crazy schmuck might have a bomb in his panties.”
I wonder if you have thought about all the people who are literally unable to find such a positive way to cope, because they are survivors of rape or sexual abuse, and suffer from PTSD. There is a discussion of such issues here, including a number of comments from survivors who must fly describing the safety measures they’re attempting to take to keep themselves safe, and others who’ve just given up flying because they can’t or won’t risk being re-traumatized.
I hope you will prayerfully consider whether and how to speak out against such measures, which are of questionable effectiveness, constitutionality, and safety for most people, and profoundly unsafe for survivors.
And in any case, please pray for all those who must fly or have chosen to risk flying this holiday season, for whom it’s literally not possible to find a cute upbeat way to cope because they are too terrified and too busy trying not to completely lose it.
Fantastic. And Amen.