Hello again, I hope you are all doing well. I have just returned from speaking at Wyoming Developmental Disabilities Conference.
As many of you who travel are aware security is a constant concern and there are a variety of methods used by the TSA, Transport Security Administration, to keep us safe.
However, have you ever considered how a blind person navigates these various measures?
I thought I would share some of my experiences with airport security.
And for those of you who know me well, you won’t be surprised that all my experiences with their personnel were positive.
Of course, I show up early and bring my positive attitude with me. I wear comfortable clothes, and leave things like my belt in my suitcase.
Metal Detecter
Passing through the metal detecter is one case where the procedure is consistent because TSA has discovered what works best and trained their employees to implement this procedure.
What they do is have one agent lead you to the mouth of the walk way where the scanner is. Then an agent on the other side reaches a hand through. You grab on to that hand and walk forward.
I find that if I take really small steps or shuffle that I can make it through the first time without touching the sides.
I’m not competitive about much, but I really hate it if I have to go through more than once.
Chemical Explosives Test
Sometimes, for no reason that I am aware of; I have required an additional screening.
I find that when TSA agents look at me they are concerned about my ability to take my shoes off and put them back on again.
To avoid my having to do that they can use a test that detects whether or not you have recently handled fire arms or explosives.
It’s not a difficult test. They just tell you to hold your hands out while they spray some powder on them.
Then they usually clean it off for you with sanitary wipes or give you some wipes to do it yourself.
This one is the least invasive test they will do as you get to sit there while they do it.
The Pat Down
I know this procedure is feared by most people and has been the subject of many bad moments for the TSA.
However, my experiences with the pat down have been as pleasant as they possibly can be.
They have an established procedure for doing this, and they have followed it each time I have lost the lottery and been patted down.
First, they give you the option of having it done in public or being taken to a private location.
I always choose to get patted down where I am.
It saves walking, and if you can’t see people looking at you; you don’t worry about them staring.
Then they tell you where they are going to touch you in advance of putting their hands on you. They move slowly and keep you informed the whole time.
Personally, I find it much less of a bother than taking all my stuff out of my pockets and removing my tablet from my messenger bag.
On my trip to Washington DC last year as part of the American Foundation For The Blind’s Blind Leaders Development Program I decided to ask a question of the TSA agent that I had always wondered about.
I told him “I don’t have a guide dog, but if I did have one; would the dog have to get patted down too? “.
He busted out laughing. When he recovered, he said no the dog wouldn’t.
I recently learned that is not totally accurate. If a guide dog or service animal sets off the metal detecter; they too could be required to be patted down.
X-ray Booth
Sometimes, the TSA officers run into a situation they aren’t trained for. As happened on my recent trip to Wyoming.
For the first time for me I was required to go into the X-ray booth. I’m guessing this doesn’t happen to blind people often because they didn’t already know how to handle having me go through it.
But the lead agent’s quick thinking saved the day.
When you go in the X-ray screening, you have to stand on certain spots and hold your hands above your head.
Lining my feet up on these marks without some sort of tactile aid was going to be really difficult.
The first agent put his shoe to the right of where my right foot needed to go. I moved my right foot until it was pressed against the left side of his shoe.
Then the other agent did the same thing for my left foot. And then they both told me if my foot needed to move forward or backwards.
They got me lined up on the marks relatively quickly. And it only took me one try to hold my hands up and stand still for the scan to be completed.
This is a great example of self-determination or finding creative solutions.
You have probably heard me talk about how finding solutions is easy if we are willing to embrace them even when we don’t like them.
In this case the solution was simple and I didn’t mind doing it at all.
They made the procedure tolerable if not enjoyable.
System For Sharing Accessibility Hacks
Once I had cleared security, and I was waiting at the gate for my flight; I made a point of telling the TSA agent how much I appreciated his professionalism and quick thinking.
I suggested to him that he share his idea with someone up the chain of command in his agency.
I told him maybe he would even get a reward for his idea.
He told me that knowing that it made me happy was reward enough. And sadly I let it go at that.
Later on I thought heck Max you are an accessibility expert and advocate.
Why didn’t you ask him if they even had a procedure for sharing ideas that would help passengers with disabilities.
And that got me to thinking that successful companies and agencies have systems for everything.
Does your business or the one you work for have a mechanism for reporting accessibility issues and sharing ideas for how to solve them?
Does your company offer professional praise or the potential of financial reward for solving access problems?
I hope you will start asking these questions of yourself or the company you work for.
Like this TSA agent, there are probably people in your organization who have discovered some wonderful accessibility solutions that could be benefitting the entire company.
Safety Lessons From My Carnie Days
I think I should mention another reason why I am so tolerant of safety precautions like those administered by the TSA.
I spent over half my adult life operating a traveling carnival with my family. Every week the safety of children and their parents or grandparents were in our hands.
We did everything we could reasonably do to achieve a high level of safety.
That included annual inspections by a highly trained expert in ride safety.
That included regular maintenance of our equipment and daily inspections for safety.
That included training our employees on the proper way to load, unload, and operate the ride.
It even included how we set up, took down, and transported the equipment.
So, I respect the desire to keep us travelers safe even if sometimes the procedures are aggravating or even embarrassing.
I’m hoping that understanding how I navigate these security procedures with joy will help you the next time you have to travel by plane.
And if you really can’t stand the security measures at the airport, then by all means consider taking the train.
I’m looking forward to hearing your experiences with TSA and traveling in general.
Thanks and take care out there, Max