I don’t have panic attacks, but if I am extremely stressed, I’ll take .5 mg of Xanax 30 minutes before I go through the checkpoint. This keeps my blood pressure from going up when dealing with these thugs. You may want to discuss this with your doctor — I don’t take Xanax on a regular basis, just on an as-needed basis to keep my blood pressure in check.

The TSA is a waste of oxygen. The goons are just a “show of force” (intimidation) and don’t provide any real security. They were given their new uniforms with “Federal Officer” badges so that the public would respect their “authority” — they’re not real law enforcement officers, don’t let their uniform and attitude fool you.

As you have panic attacks, be careful at security checkpoints .. talk to your doctor about taking a xanax before. You don’t want to get too worked up where a police officer might pick you up for disorderly conduct. Thankfully many police officers see the TSA for what it is, but you don’t want to do something / say something during a panic attack that will cause you problems in case there is an eager “barny fife” type police officer around.

Anyways – be sure to make a complaint against the TSA. I’ve dealt with one of the TSA employees at ATL that handles complaints and he’s a clueless fool — best way to make your complaint is via a Senator or House Rep’s office.

Good Luck!

The TSA is a huge waste of money employing mostly uneducated automatons who too often harass and bully the public, which has been conned into believing that the TSA makes flying safe. It and Homeland Security were constructed by George Warmonger Bush and his criminal cronies to make the public afraid enough that it would let them get away with anything.

As they say, the rest is history.

The ones who carried it out should be forced to give you a personal apology and then fired and banned from every holding government office or receiving a penny from the US Government.

The President of the United States owes you a personal apology for your treatment at the hands of goons who report to him.

That’s the problem with conceding power to government: We all think the power is to be used against “them” to protect “us”. But the power is an end unto itself.

What an awful experience. Awful, awful.

Please, do send in a complaint.

Also, please, don’t give up when the TSA complaint-handling process does not give you satisfaction (it won’t!).

Advice is cheap, but here are a few suggestions:

(1) Write your congressman.

(2) Advertise for people who witnessed your son being taken away. These can help back up your story.

(3) If at all possible get the offending TSA employees’ name(s) other identifying information (badge numbers??).

Jude wrote:
> I hope some sort of comment can be wrestled out of the TSA regarding this incident!

No, they have already commented. They have said that things like this will not happen. We’re past commenting. It is time for someone to be punished.

That may sound unduly vindictive, but consider: if no one is punished, then that means that TSA people can get away with anything. It means that TSA rules are not enforced. It means, really, that the TSA is not bound by rules at all.

Of course, that is the way things really are. The TSA is *not*, in practice bound by rules. They *can* do anything they want. But it is time for this to stop.