Godiva or Blue Fly?

A very quick reset: Bryon’s Dad is quickly mending. He was behaving like a hellion yesterday, and his doctor finally got to him. The doctor decided it was the drugs he’s been on for the last several months, especially, the steroids, that have been making him increasingly psychotic.

And sure enough, after a quick diagnosis of his lungs and deciding he didn’t need the inhaler, once the steroids were removed, he stopped believing weirdness, like Phyllis had called the police to take him away.

We are all much happier this morning. Bryon’s off to see him.

***

Last night, Bryon came up with an interesting proposal regarding TSA. If the procedure survives holiday scrutiny, and we are subjected to the choice of irradiation or groping, he thought perhaps civil disobedience might be called for. In the same spirit as Swift’s A Modest Proposal, I give you the lesser of three evils.

As you know, the opt out full body grope is undesirable for a variety of reasons. There are many stories you can read about this. It goes without saying that I’m not feeling really good about this option.

But then, there’s the amount of irradiation you receive from the TSA machines, not to mention the degredation of having a nude picture taken. Being married to a science teacher has drawbacks.

The foremost problem of irradiation is for TSA workers. These folks aren’t provided the shielding your average XRay tech is. They’re getting more than a fair RDA of irradiation.

Even though one time through the machines probably won’t affect you much, the danger of irradiation is in constance and accumulation. So, if you are a frequent flier, or you’ve undergone a great deal of medical treatment in the last year, you run a greater risk of cancer from x-rays than someone who just goes home once in 20 years to visit Grandman. Pilots are being encouraged to opt out.

***

My dilemna? Three fold. First, how do I protect my psyche? Secondly, how do I protect my body? Thirdly, how do I protect non-unionized TSA employees from the agency that has endangered them?

Bryon’s answer was the sort of thing about him that keeps me surpised with him. He suggested we protest by stripping and going through the line.

Not a solution for everyone, I’ll grant you. Still, a painful, humiliating decision, but it might be the least evil option. Someone’s going to get a naked picture of me at expense to their health and my health. The groping puts them in control and reminds me of horrible things. Holding my head up and protesting, now that’s something about this whole rotten thing I could respect.

Stripping, no matter how uncomfortable, puts me in control. And it’s an attempt at a solution. There’s no need for the grope. Everything is quite out in the open. If a TSA member decides I need groping while naked, I can guarantee the discomfort is just as intense for them as it is for me. This solution has the added advantage of getting the husband and me arrested for indecent exposure, thus drawing more attention to this issue.

Not the first time someone will go naked to press a political issue either.

Yes, I might not make it to my Vegas vacation. That would be a great pity.

So, not a great solution, and to be honest, I’ll have to see what we do with this in reality. But I’d rather do something that illustrates exactly what I think.

We can all hope that the policy does not survive the outrage I expect it will receive over the holiday season. Unlike Godiva’s hair, mine isn’t very long. I’ve no modesty to hide behind.

Catherine