Rhonda Gaynier, a New York real-estate lawyer, was flying home from Tampa, Fla., and passing through airport security when she was asked to step aside for additional screening.
What happened next shocked her: Using an open hand, a security agent touched her on her shoulders, under her arms, around her waist, across her bra strap, and between her breasts, Gaynier said -- all in front of other passengers.
"I was almost in tears," she said. "I've never been so humiliated in my life. It's one of the worst experiences I've ever had to endure."
This woman must lead a very sheltered and pampered life if she's never been so humiliated and this experiences ranks among her worst ever. What a whiny little bitch. If she had said something like "it's f-ing retarded that screeners who smile quietly as a group of Taliban-attired men speaking Arabic pass through unmolested think it's worthwhile to check for contraband between my boobs," that would be understandable. However, it's pretty damn unrealistic to think that anyone is going to be able to hop on a commercial airplane without a second glance or some fancy machinery. Yes, most women aren't security threats. But chicks blow themselves up in Israel pretty regularly, so not screening chicks at airports isn't really an option, even without the equal-opportunity issue. And is it really that damn "humiliating" when you consider the context? Everybody (except perhaps for shifty-eyed men in turbans mumbling about purging the earth of infidels) who has flown in the past few years has likely suffered, or at least witnessed someone else suffering, similar indignities. Granted, I've not had some chick put her hand between my boobs, but I've been patted down pretty damn thoroughly in the past and I'm not scarred for life. It's just part of the utter misery of air travel. And it's not even the worst part. But enough of my beating up on this delicate flower of a woman. She should take comfort in knowing that the passengers who witnessed her ordeal certainly didn't blame her for her predicament or think any less of her as a result. If the other passengers even noticed her while they were standing barefoot and beltless watching a semiliterate screener pawing greedily through their belongings and holding up their wrinkle cream for all to see, I'm sure they felt nothing but sympathy.
8:49 AM
Monday, November 29, 2004
Main Entry: 1 or·gan·ic Pronunciation: or-'ga-nik
Function: adjective
3 a (1) : of, relating to, or derived from living organisms (2) : of, relating to, yielding, or involving the use of food produced with the use of feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides b (1) : of, relating to, or containing carbon compounds (2) : relating to, being, or dealt with by a branch of chemistry concerned with the carbon compounds of living beings and most other carbon compounds
Most of the participants in Food Not Bombs are vegans, i.e., people who eat no animal products: no meat, no dairy, no eggs, nada.
Freeganism is just the next logical step. Say you order veggie fare at Taco Bell; you just supported the same corporation that owns KFC. Hello, bean burrito. Bye-bye, birdie.
Anytime you buy anything, the logic goes, you're contributing to the problem, so the only way to keep your hands clean is to get them dirty, to dig around in the Dumpster and avoid consumerism as much as possible. And, hell, why not help out the homeless while you're at it?
The local chapter of FNB has been around for ten years; the national movement for 24. Most of its participants are idealistic youths.
"It's a good introduction for people -- it was for me -- into empowering yourself to be part of the solution," says Lyons. "Most 16- to 20-year-olds don't want to sit down and do paperwork or research or writing. So if they can run around with their friends on bikes and jump in Dumpsters and cook food together, it's not really work."
But it is a little dirty. Lyons says rats and cockroaches are never really a problem, but sometimes grocers share Dumpsters with other vendors, so motor oil and other contaminants get splattered on top of the food.
"That would get you sick and is also just gross," he says. "And rotten food is gross, but it's organic, so it's not that bad."
Part of the solution indeed. This is really a rather amusing story. But while I can't speak for the "other contaminants" there's just no denying that motor oil is organic.
11:23 AM
