It’s no secret that just about anything will set off an airport security alert these days. In the past decade, air travel has very quickly been transformed from a premium travel experience to an exercise in forced conformity among the airline-patronizing public. People now have to worry about any and every little thing that will cause problems at airport security checkpoints. Pretty much every week now, we hear news about a toddler that’s been placed on the no-fly list. Amazingly, things are still getting worse. It seems that you’re not safe these days even if you’re already on the plane and in the air.
Such was the experience recently of an unidentified female passenger on an American Airlines flight. She had made it through security, and was already on the plane and in the air on the first leg of her flight. She was preparing for landing so she could catch her connecting flight in Washington DC, when a flight attendant told her the captain wanted to speak with her regarding the connection. She was told that she wouldn’t be allowed to board her connecting flight until she changed her t-shirt, which read “If I wanted the government in my womb, I’d f*** a senator.”
In the end, she covered up the shirt and made it on a rescheduled connecting flight. But, take this is a cautionary tale. This case may be borderline, as the shirt did contain a swear word, but the message was overwhelmingly political. Apparently, the airlines now have the power to impose a dress code based on political preferences.