Flight security and snacks

I want to be as safe as possible when I fly, so I can’t argue too much with the new TSA security measures. But I wonder if full-body screening machines are the way to go. The Transportation Security Administration does not have the greatest record with consistency, and being able to see whether or not a flier has a sanitary napkin or a reconstructed breast, and submitting her to an invasive full body search.

When I first flew again after 9-11, I was taking my girls, who were then 3, 8 and 10, to meet my husband in Florida. In front of a huge crowd at JFK, the security agent told me she was going to ‘check’ me, then stuck her hand down the front of my pants. I was holding the hands of two little girls at the time, so I probably did not fit into a terrorist profile, yet this woman felt the need to stick her hand into my underwear.

When the liquid ban started, we were traveling once with Jif to-go packs, one and a half ounce packages of peanut butter. These were taken away since they were alleged liquid. As anyone who has gotten pb stuck in her mouth knows, peanut butter is a paste, not a liquid. Plus the containers were under the three-ounce rule.

Another time, we had yogurt taken away. Not drinkable yogurt, which is arguably liquid. The thick, Greek-style yogurt that rarely quenches thirst and in no way qualifies as liquid.

But we’ve sailed through with peanut butter and yogurt on other occasions. So is this the TSA’s plan, to keep us on our toes by randomly decided that some foods may be considered liquid, depending on the whimsy of the agent? Or is this just snack profiling?