Airport Safety

So, although I could very easily spend an entire post blogging about my opinions on the legalized groping pat-downs or the pornographic security pics  body scanners and how the TSA hasn't actually stopped anything from happening, I'm not going to...instead I want to tell you about my son's experience flying with his Grandma from the middle of the country to his Nana and GG's house in Florida and back again.

Before he left (being the Type A freak that I am), I packed an envelope with his birth certificate, medical insurance card and a letter granting my mother (Grandma) and/or my aunt (Nana) the permission to take him and make any and all necessary emergency medical decisions which may arise during the time he was away. He turned three on his little vacation and I knew he wouldn't be able to verbalize to a TSA agent or doctor that although his Grandma has a different name, she was allowed to take him. Also, I strongly suspect the boy will be "that kid" who ends up at the ER at least once a summer because grace and gentleness aren't really his thing.

Here's where I have a problem. They never needed the documentation. On the medical side, I'm relieved...the kid made it through a week without me-in a not-so-child-proofed house with a pool and only came back with a few scratches on his forehead which no one seems to know how he got...I can live with that. But TSA...the great airport security never checked to see that the random adult with him who claimed to be his Grandmother actually was his Grandmother and had permission to take him. Granted, it was a domestic flight but it was over 1000 miles from home and how in the world did they know the name she gave them for the boy was even his name?! They never even requested his birth certificate.

So how safe are our children with TSA if anyone can take them anywhere in the country without a second thought?