Right to Fly?

As some of you may know I spend a lot of my time at airports and traveling to various part of the country. While this may sound like a glamorous occupation, I can assure you I spend many a nights in a small town where there is little entertainment and even fewer dinner options. Unless of course you are a fan of the Golden Arches. My bitching aside, there seems to be an argument brewing  over the use of a new technology. This new technology is full body scanning.

Basically you step inside these two large pillars and a 3D image is taken of your body with the hope they can find any sort of concealed illicit material. The argument put forward by the TSA is that this new method of checking passengers is less invasive than physical body searches and can find items that traditional metal detectors can’t. So on its surface this seems like a great idea, a new level of safety for one and all right? Well not so fast. There are many out there that are trying to claim that this new search method is too invasive and “violates their rights.” Now I am not quoting anyone directly but if you search many popular internet forums you can easily find this idea being thrown into the discussion. Some people are trying to claim it boarders on pornography. So before I throw in my two cents go do a quick google image search, go on I’ll wait…..

Ok now that you are back let’s get a few things straight. For some inexplicable reason there are many people out there that think everything they do in their lives is their right. Sorry but this is not the case. Things like having a drivers license and air travel are a privileged not a right. You should have all the same access as everyone else to these privileges, but if you don’t follow the rules or abuse those privileges then government is well withing their rights to take them away from you. So if you don’t want to go through the full body scanner then don’t but if they then tell you that you can’t fly or that they have to search you manually they don’t bitch. How would this be any different if a passenger got on a plan and started swearing and being rude to the attendents? Couldn’t they argue they have a right to fly and a right to free speech? Most logical people would say the person was being disruptive and should be removed from the plane. So why should people who don’t want to follow other rules be given an exception?

Furthermore, when you refuse tests like the full body scan rightly or wrongly it gives the impression that there is a reason why don’t want to submit to the test, and for most people this is extremely suspicious. Playing devils advocate if you allow passengers to bypass the scanner where does it end? Does that mean they can also refuse to be manually searched?

And let’s assume for second that you have some sort of right not to go through the scanner. Doesn’t everyone else who travels have a right to certain level of security? So whose “rights” triumph in this situation?

Normally, I am fully behind a person’s individual rights, but in this case this is not the issue. People just don’t want to have some stranger looking at them with their cloths kinda off. Sadly though this is the world we live in. I understand you might feel violated, but it is roughly 10 seconds of your day to make everyone around you potentially safer. Is this a perfect option? No. But until there is a better alternative, step into the scanner wait your ten seconds and move on with your day. If you don’t want to go through the scanner you can always catch a Greyhound.