Sigh…

I’m on the watch list again. Yes, the watch list for flying that’s keeping terrorists from hiding explosives in shoes, in baby formula, toothpaste larger than 3 ounces. Either one Jose Gonzalez has really screwed it up for several of us Jose’s (I’m looking at you Swedish singer) or the government has been snooping through my e-mail or library records and decided that one who reads too many comic books must be a threat to national security.

The first time I ended up on the list was back in early 2007 when I was teaching in middle school. I had been fine for years, flying in and out of the country and across it. Then one day our office secretary tries to print our boarding passes for Southwest. We were going to a conference and she calls me and asks “why can’t I print your boarding pass? Everyone else’s works”. Hmmm…I thought that maybe Southwest made a mistake and so at the ticket counter I ask the lady and she tells me “you’re on the suspected watch list”. I suddenly have this flash of being hounded by government agents every time I go through security at the airport. Would I always be picked out and searched? The ticket counter lady was so nice about it and gave me the form with the contact info for TSA. Thank goodness, at least I had someone to contact. I figured that I’d be out of luck among the many horror stories of not being told how you ended up on the list and what “evidence” they may have. I was afraid of being taken to a back room and not see for some time. Yes, my mind was getting carried away, but this has actually happened to innocent people. Luckily I thought that there was no country they could extradite me to, unless I was confused for being Syrian, and then I knew I’d be screwed (literally and figuratively).
Anyways, the procedure for addressing you being on the watch list (not to confused it with the actual no-fly list) is pretty simple and can be done all through e-mail. You submit your issue through the TSA website and then follow up with some identity documents. I was supposed to receive a written response telling me what they concluded. The thing is that they tell you that they can’t tell you why you are on the list, and whatever they decide is final in some ways (WTF?!) and then it’s up to the airlines to make changes on their end (again, WTF?!). This whole ordeal happened just as I was moving from one place to another and I never got that written notice…a mistake on my part maybe, but I figured that it would make its way to me…nothing. But soon I was able to start checking in with Southwest again, so I figured it worked out. Simple, I thought.

Well, about three months later I had to fly with Northwest. Sure enough, I’m flying with a group and they can all check in as a group…except for me. My advisor looks at me asking, “Did you already check in?” I instantly thought, oh boy, I’m on the list again. I politely ask the ticket county lady and she will not give me a straight answer. I tell her that it’s okay; I just want to know if she can tell me so I can try to sort it out again. Nothing, she’s pretty cold about it telling it’s just another security measure. Grrrrr….I am not happy with Northwest. On the way back we all have issues checking in and I’m thinking “Uh oh, am I contagious?!” This very nice Spanish speaking ticket counter lady helps me with my boarding pass and I ask her very cordially if I’m on the list. She tells me that nothing is showing up and it would show up if I were. Ah! I figured the other lady just didn’t want to tell me, but maybe I really wasn’t on the list and Northwest screwed up. If only.
I have another flight with Delta. Same issues. Now I figure for sure I’m on the list again, but I want the ticket counter lady to tell me. She won’t tell me. I have a flight with Southwest. The ticket counter lady is not as friendly as previous Southwest ticket counter ladies, but she politely tells me that yes, I’m on the list. Thank you! Southwest, for all the issues I sometimes have with you, I appreciate the fact that you can tell me so I can address the issue with TSA and not be frustrated at you. Now I will try to submit my complaint online again. Hopefully I don’t screw up and they tell me “too bad”. I figure I need to complain now before I end up in a worse situation. Right now I am inconvenienced, but I don’t want it to get worse.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind being inconvenienced if people are doing their job to protect other people. What I don’t like is if there is no reasonable way for me to prove that I have not done anything that warrants me being on the list. According to the LA Times, last year over 1 million people ended up on the list. Could they all be threats to the nation? I hope not; we’d really be in trouble if that were the case. I want the list to work and I would like to know why I was put on there. That’s not going to happen, but at least I can complain to TSA every time I end up on the list. Maybe that will get me into further trouble or maybe I will finally be free. I’ve seen some people comment that “hey, if you do nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about”. If only that were true. It’s not just about whether if I do something wrong, but if someone else does something wrong, be it the actual threat-to-to-national-security Jose or the TSA bureaucracy that has no good way to determining the difference. Otherwise what’s the point? Just put us all on the list.
So what could have put me back on the list? I don’t know. Possibilities may be that I changed my address and that triggered it. Maybe the other Jose screwed up again. Maybe I was supposed to reply back to DHS but I never got the form. Maybe I could blame Northwest since it seemed to start with them. Maybe what I do is truly considered radical, in which case might as well round up a third of the US population. Am I terrorist? No. Do I want to be one? Certainly not. Have I criticized the government? Several times. But like Ben Franklin once said “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither”. (okay, I’m no Ben Franklin, and many quote Founding Fathers to seem more credible, but I consider myself a good citizen with the right to enjoy the freedoms I am told I’m supposed to have…and YES, I am willing to make some of those sacrifices when the cause is just, the leaders lead, and we all pull our share)

Here’s to hoping the government bots don’t find this blog and consider it suspicious…in which case, I never meant to check out that book on XXXXXXXX.