It's about personal image & how much we all care about what "other people" will think.

We all get catalogs...especially at this time of year, and in MOST catalogs these days, there is a section on "personal grooming".. I am somewhat amused at some of the "offerings.

Even staid ole Vermont Country Store, sells "personal massagers" and incontinence items.

Other catalogs promise "discreet" packaging..(apparently it might embarrass the UPS guy or the postman if he knew what you were ordering.

Our parents tell us from the earliest age, to keep our private stuff...well private.
We guard our modesty and until gym class, we are able to avoid others from seeing "all of us"...what kind of underwear we wear, etc.

For most of us, we never ever imagined that someday we would have strangers putting their hands on us, patting us, feeling us...just so we could go to a boring sales meeting somewhere, or to have dinner with Granny... We also never suspected that these same people would be feeling our children's, wife's, husband's bodies..right out there for all to see..

Naysayers will remind us that.."It's no biggie..just the price we have to pay, to "be safe"..

For a LOT of us, we never thought we would ever be UN-safe (except for the obvious possibility of falling from the sky, due to a mechanical or human error).

The last thing on our minds was the possibility that someone on a flight with us, or some nefarious person somewhere else, would deliberately set out to kill us anonymously.

To lessen the chances, we are told that all must be suspected, and "checked".

The checking is a hassle, but it is also a shock to know that random people in line with you, as well as unseen "checkers" in a room somewhere, will now be looking at you , at your bulges, your flabby bits, your every contour. They will be noticing (and perhaps commenting to each other about) any products you may be using to maintain personal hygiene, or any medical necessities you may have to use.

This issue hits home with our family. Our oldest son has had a urostomy since he was 8 years old, and he travels by air A LOT. In fact he & his wife just returned yesterday from a 2 week trip to Singapore & Bali. He knew what was coming, so he asked for a private screening & was treated well, even though the screeners were "curious" about the tubing & collection bottle he has to use for night-time, and the extra supplies he must carry with him. He knows it's not their fault, but at the same time he's a little annoyed that the people traveling with him have to wonder what's so special about him, that he had a special screening...behind closed doors.. He's the boss & does not feel the need to have "show & tell" with his employees.

Some will say.."Hey it's no biggie..you'll never see these people again, so why should you care"..but as an aside, when they were in Korea, he met a screener who had previously screened him, and of course recalled his special circumstances. ALL the people he met were courteous to him, and seemed as uncomfortable DOING the extra screening, as the people undergoing them.

My son's comment sums it up.. "It is what it is".

I still can't help but to think of the many older folks who cheerfully joked about how their artificial knee set off the machine not so long ago, and how they may be feeling now, when it's their incontinence undies are the reason for special treatment.

Indefinitely.
But we couldn't leave things alone - wouldn't stop antagonizing others. An active empire not only makes enemies, it incorporates them within its own expanding borders. People on the other side of the planet whose names and language are alien to us, live in the shadows of our military bases and economic policies. For decades our shadow deepened and our presence on their side of the planet was growing. We, here at home, weren't thinking about them and we weren't aware of them, but they couldn't help but be aware of us. And now since they can't live in peace, we won't either. Probably none of us will live to see peace again. I guess it is what it is.

and now we all are being chased by bees..