TSA, Airline Crew Members & Undies - A Tale Shared by a Lady Skywriter reader

"My Own Personal Undies (capital letters furnished by the writer) were scrutinized, CSI-style, by gloved hands. They were held high for all to see by a 7-foot-tall TSA person, over the heads of every single passenger I would later see on my flight. Apparently I was overheard saying to my husband, very quietly I thought, I'm never wearing those again!!! (Yes, you can speak quietly and still use exclamation marks and italics.)

"Well, that's when the real trouble started. My husband is an airline captain and was traveling with me . . . up until the very moment attention was drawn to us. From that moment on, for our own protection, he acted like he had never seen me before and began to back slowly away from the embarrassing scene.

"I did not know then, but was patiently, (really, very patiently) told later, ' TSA pwople are the Most Powerful People in the Airport.'

"Apparently, I'm lucky not to have been strip-searched (yes, they can) and taken to jail (yes, they can.)

"My husband separated himself from me so that he would still have a means of making a living and therefore be able to bail me out, in the event I was strip-searched or taken to jail."

"What I had not known at the time is that a TSA person can request that any pilot hand over his/her employment verification and pilots license anytime they want. You just have to get them mad enough. If they ask for your documents you have to hand them over. It can take weeks or months to get them back, during which time you are unable to fly airplanes for your company, which means 'grounded without pay.'

"So now I travel with my delicates or unmentionables in individual zip-lock bags. I make a special effort not to look at what the TSA people are doing with them.

"And I make SURE I keep my mouth shut.

"Just so you know."

Contributor Anonymous, for obvious reasons . . . Lady Skywriter.