Security

I know that yesterday I was nervous about security with my insulin pump. Of course when we arrived at the airport, they were sending everyone through the body scanners, so I politely requested the pat down from the TSA agent. She made three attempts to convince me to go through, “it’s radio waves. No more than using a cell phone or microwave,” she told me.

I explained that since it’s my health, I would like to be on the safe side and be patted down. After two refusals, she walked me over for a pat down. Overall it went very smoothly. She was fairly pleasant. I was offered a private screening and she explained to me everything she was about to do. Was is comfortable? No. Was it the worst thing ever? No.

While I was being close and personal with the TSA, she chatted with me about the weather and insulin pump. A family member of hers has had “childhood” diabetes for 33 years and uses “the newest insulin pump.” She totally understood the tubeless OmniPod and asked if I wore any other devices, so I showed her the Dexcom on my arm. She glanced at it and moved on.

So the verdict is that I survived. I basically got felt up and had someone’s hands in my pants (waistband). It’s over and I don’t have to go through it again for a week!

The Rules

I recently read an article about being a good passenger (How to not travel like an ass) and I totally got it then… and get it even better now.

We weren’t sharing a plane with the worst passengers in the world, but I can tell you that we weren’t in the company of the best passengers either.

If you read nothing else in this section, read this: The rules apply to you. Yes, you.

When the people running the show ask you to wait until your boarding section is called… please just wait. Don’t keep inching closer and closer to the doors and getting in the way of the people trying to exit the plane.

On the first leg of our journey, there was a woman across the aisle who was nearly in tears because she couldn’t stow her massive roller bag above her head, she had to go farther back in the plane. The flight attendant took the bag from her and stowed it so that other passengers could actually board the plane. After the bag situation was resolved, she took her seat and began playing on her iPhone, long after the turn off your electronics notice was given. She had to be told three times to shut off her phone for takeoff. Then it got better. With the seat belt sign still lit and the plane climbing to a higher altitude, she got out of her seat and walked back to her stowed bag. She garnered not one polite announcement to please stay seated, but a second adamant “close the overhead bin and sit down” announcement as well.

The rules apply to you, not matter who you are. The rules exist for a reason. Sure I didn’t like my pat down at security, but there are rules about safe flying… and I’m not so special that they don’t apply to me.