Grey Haired Christians dont' blow up airplanes

[sharkman]

So nobody wants to acknowledge the elephant in the room? Really?

Mostly in this thread there is only the typical knee jerk responses, shallow thinking and what I've come to recognize as the Canadian response. Point out an exception to the rule and then stand back as though you've neutralized the original problem.

Canadians are more apathetic than ever.

[Wilber]

and the whole truth is Granny did lie Grannie didn't file a complaint it was her daughter who wasn't even there...the security company finds it easier to not battle grannies in a public forum and let the issue pass...

You can't expect every 82 year old granny to be up to speed on airport security or have the same mindset and sensibilities as bureaucrats or their minions. Yes, security had a job to do but there was no reason to act like such assholes while carrying it out. The requirement for security is not an excuse to abuse people.

[Muddy]

Blowing up aircraft these days is predominately the domain of Islamic nut bars who have been brainwashed by their so called religious leaders. If I fit the profile by looks of an Islamist Arab with a swarthy complexion and was the right age I would be more than happy I was getting a little more attention than blue rinsed hair on old granny. I would want my fellow passengers to feel comfortable and I also want to get to my destination safely. So yes lets profile. If it was old white guys who were bragging they were going to blow up aircraft I would want to be given special attention.

[August1991]

Here's a suggestion: Every time someone gets pulled out of line for a secondary search, we give the person a crisp $50, courtesy of the taxpayer. Then, we tell the security people that they can choose whomever they want for secondary with the clear knowledge that each person is being compensated for the inconvenience.

current

At heart, the issue here is that some people don't want to suffer the indignity/cost of being searched. We think that it is "fair" if this cost is borne randomly. Well, why not compensate the people we choose to search?

I think the argument that "even old white grannies can be terrorists too" is spurious. The simple fact is that identifiers exist to narrow our search. As the OP states, if you have engine trouble, you don't check the tire pressure first.

If terrorism in western countries becomes more severe, than I suspect that we will dispense with current niceties.