Monica Emmerson, her son, and the sippy cup.
Posted on 06/14/2007 12:13:27 PM PDT by FreedomCalls
If you travel enough, you've seen it all -- and possibly some of the awful things that can happen while traveling will have actually happened to you. But nothing I've read about or experienced comes close to what Monica Emmerson experienced while at Reagan National Airport on June 11th while traveling with her 19-month-old toddler. This isn't one of those Catch-22 bureaucratic snafus; this isn't about rules being applied to the letter. This story is mostly about what can happen simply because the authorities in charge decide that they're going to exercise their authority because they can, regardless of whether it's legal or right or makes any sense at all.
The incident started when Monica was stopped while going through airport security because there was water in her son's sippy cup. The sippy cup was seized by TSA. Monica wanted the cup back because the sippy cup was the only way her son would drink -- and it was a long flight between Washington, DC and Reno, Nevada where she was going for a family reunion. If you've ever had a toddler you understand about sippy cups.
So she was willing to spill the water out. Drink the water. Anything -- all that she wanted was to be able to have a cup that her 19-month-old toddler could drink from.
Here's what happened in Monica's words:
"I demanded to speak to a TSA [Transportation Security Administration] supervisor who asked me if the water in the sippy cup was 'nursery water or other bottled water.' I explained that the sippy cup water was filtered tap water. The sippy cup was seized as my son was pointing and crying for his cup. I asked if I could drink the water to get the cup back, and was advised that I would have to leave security and come back through with an empty cup in order to retain the cup. As I was escorted out of security by TSA and a police officer, I unscrewed the cup to drink the water, which accidentally spilled because I was so upset with the situation.
"At this point, I was detained against my will by the police officer and threatened to be arrested for endangering other passengers with the spilled 3 to 4 ounces of water. I was ordered to clean the water, so I got on my hands and knees while my son sat in his stroller with no shoes on since they were also screened and I had no time to put them back on his feet. I asked to call back my fiancé, who I could still see from afar, waiting for us to clear security, to watch my son while I was being detained, and the officer threatened to arrest me if I moved. So I yelled past security to get the attention of my fiancé.
"I was ordered to apologize for the spilled water, and again threatened arrest. I was threatened several times with arrest while detained, and while three other police officers were called to the scene of the mother with the 19 month old. A total of four police officers and three TSA officers reported to the scene where I was being held against my will. I was also told that I should not disrespect the officer and could be arrested for this too. I apologized to the officer and she continued to detain me despite me telling her that I would miss my flight. The officer advised me that I should have thought about this before I 'intentionally spilled the water!'"
Monica said that the incident ended this way: "I missed my flight, needless to say after being detained for over 40 minutes. After the officer was done humiliating me, I was advised that I could go through the security check point in an attempt to catch my flight. The officer insisted that my son and I be rescreened despite us both being detained and under her control the entire time."
During the weeks and months after 9/11 some passengers who were caught with unidentified fluids while going through airport security were told to drink the liquid (including breast milk) to prove that it wasn't an explosive. In one incident, a fourteen year old boy was ordered to drink water that he was carrying, and it turned out that this was unclean pond water he was carrying for a science project. Monica was more than happy to drink her child's tap water --all three or four ounces of it-- and tried, in fact. But it was the trying and spilling that seems to have escalated this into a situation that required the presence of four TSA officers and three police officers.
TSA found no other security problems with Monica Emmerson. Not even a nail clipper. Just the water and the sippy cup.
TSA's rules allow passengers to take up to three ounces of liquid on board; they also allow parents to take milk or baby formula on board in larger quantities than that, if declared to TSA. But the question that she was asked by TSA --was this "nursery water" in the sippy cup?-- was an unanswerable one, since there's no such thing as nursery water in the TSA regulations. Or in the real world, either.
Monica Emmerson was detained for 45 minutes. She wasn't questioned about possible ties to terrorists. Her carry-on items weren't rigorously searched -- or even searched again. Neither the police nor TSA took any action that indicated that they through she might be a security risk. She was just detained, harassed and threatened with arrest. All because of a sippy cup with water in it.
Monica Emmerson, her son, and the sippy cup.
The TSA who handled this should be fired for being a moron. A sippy cup is now a threat? BULL$HIT it is!! This is just some petty little wanna-be dictator hassling someone for no good reason other than to get their jollies.
If all government employess got fired for being morons, there wouldn't be a Civil Service. Why do you think they are all protected from ever being fired for any reason?
We have a “Reagan National Airport,” but we certainly don’t live in a Reaganite country anymore. Not even close.
What a horrific story.
The TSA, aking the world save from baby cup terrorism and teaching beligerent terrorists a lesson. Meanwhile how many knife-through-security stories have we seen this month?
So, I open this story, expecting to feel anger toward the TSA and sympathy for the mother. But I have to say -- I think the mother handled this very badly. I'm not surprised they gave her a hard time. It started out small -- I do not think the sippy cup had to be a monumental problem -- but then she spills, she yells, she protests. Come on.
She handled this badly.
Not relevant to the story, but nineteen month old son and fiance?
This is the same mentality that happens to guards in prisions. Remember the experiment where a professor divided up his class into guards and prisioners and had to end it early due to the “guards’ being so cruel to there “prisioners”. Going through TSA security is just like getting checked into a prision to visit to visit a prisioner. They make you feel like you are a low life, well unless you’re the Hiltons.
Stupidity is contagious. In Government it's an epidemic........
Same goes for the underendowed Jack Booted Thugs who menaced a woman with a child. There’s a way to be professional in any situation. Too bad the cops’ names are not released so everyone who knows them could see what sort of faggots they really are.
Welcom to the new TSA Soviet Bloc.
Sorry, but I want to hear the other side of the story first. Look at the way moonbats scream about “police brutality” when they get tasered for ignoring security personnel at libraries. (Snicker)
But, no - this is a one-sided account. She could have very easily been rude and abrasive. Having a 19 month old doesn’t excuse you from treating public servants like trash.
What is their side of the story, before they are fired.
Having flown quite a bit I can tell you there are some really obnoxious people going through screening, some with children. Her story may be true to the letter but there may be more.
When I had broken my ankle and was flying I had to be set aside for special screening, the TSA where were very polite and professional about the whole deal but I also treated them with respect.
Ok ok to long I know but there are always two side to every story and if you’re a liberal there may be five or more.
What of it?
Hmmmm...Gee, what a surprise. What else could be expected to happen when a giant bureaucracy is thrown together out of expediency and then spawns thousands of these little bureaucruds?
As civilians, all we can do is try out best not to go through security when any of them are bored, pissed off or needing confirmation of their power. Yipes.
Could race be involved here? Monica Emmerson, after all, is terribly blonde.
AFAICT, the sole qualification for becoming a an agent for the TSA is to love power and to hate accountability. If you have those, you’re set for a lifetime career in the TSA.
Your right, it isn’t relevant. One less aborted baby is fine with me. That he will have married parents is a positive.
I suspect there’s more to the story if the woman started to make demands.
If she’s got a case, I hope she’s talking to her lawyer.
Why did her fiance wander off anyway?
We're close to letting 20 million 'who knows what' into our nation....
..porous borders for over 6 years AFTER 9/11..
..and all this fuss over a sippy cup.
Tell me this is a joke.
It sound to me like she exacerbated this situation by a few ill advised remarks.
I think that TSA security inspections are simply window-dressing, designed to give us a sense of safety and comfort. The government already knows who the bad guys are and has other ways of tracking and screening them (wishful thinking?).
I agree. Plus, we don’t know about any threats or other intelligence that may have guided the inspectors. We need both sides. I don’t blame this woman at all for being upset, but a lot of people are being inconvenienced these days.
Wow....typing this from DCA right now....not a hint of problems with TSA....today!
You, maam, are an idiot for flying these days. Especially with a child. Especially after being told “no liquids” and thinking your kids sippy cup should be an exception because it is YOU and not a terrorist. “I don’t see why I have to be convenienced just because a few people died in an office building”
You have to endure these rules because you are sheep and willing to endure them in exchange for quick travel.
Some terrorist is watching this and thinking “kid with a sippy cup might work”.
“Some terrorist is watching this and thinking “kid with a sippy cup might work”.”
Nailed it.
Here’s where things turned to worms...
“I demanded to speak to a TSA [Transportation Security Administration] supervisor...”
Lady, the TSA personnel have enough s**t do deal with on an average day without you getting your knickers in a twist and “demanding to speak to a supervisor”. Generally speaking, if you’re pleasant and polite to others, they will be pleasant and polite to you. If you’re going to get in their faces, expect less courteous treatment.
There’s also TSA people who steal from luggage. Caught on camera stealing.
I’ve seen my 68 year old mother prodded and groped as she goes through security checkpoints for domestic air flights. She has a pace maker and is diabetic.
She is relucant to fly as a result of her treatment.
The “non-profile” profile is extreme at times and it seems that some get off on their position of authority.
A 19 month old and a boyfriend, and an inability to follow instructions. You probably ought to find a better poster child.
Ask to speak to someone’s boss and often they will resist. When I tried to complain in Boston at the post office, I was told “I don’t know who my supervisor is”. There have been similar incidents I’ve encourted when working on a matter over the phone.
My teenage daughter was involved in something similar and probably worse. She and some friends were at a local mall early one morning to get breakfast and then shop for Christmas. The day was an optional "make-up" day during finals so they were excused from school.
Mall security harassed and detained them until one of the girls' parents could get to the mall to explain the situation and have them released. She was assured that there would be no further problems so the girls decided to stay to do their shopping.
A short time later, an off duty cop - working security as a second job - accosted them in a store, yelled at them for a couple of minutes, then had them marched down to the security holding area in the basement. There, he proceeded to yell at them some more and threaten them with "juvie hall" because they were supposed to be in school. Needless to say, they were extremely upset.
To make a long story short, they were picked up by a parent and taken home. Then, the other parents and I sent letters to the mall management, mall owners, and the security company. We then arranged a meeting with the mall manager who did his best to weasel out of taking any responsibility for the incident. In the end, the girls were given gift cards as compensation, mall security was instructed in the proper way to deal with non-criminals, and most importantly, the overzealous cop was terminated from the security job.
Make enough trouble for them and you might get action. But since Ms. Emmerson's run-in was with the government, I wouldn't count on it.
Sad state of affairs, but unless I can get there by car or train, I’m not going unless it is an absolute necessity. It’s just not worth it...
Yes, I agree. I find it interesting, and not too encouraging, that she took this story to the press. It does nothing to help the security for the rest of us. All of us are inconvenienced when we travel. Plus, we know that the terrorists possess no value for the lives of children.
Back when cigar lighters were still allowed, I had to summon a supervisor because the TSA worker wanted to confiscate my lighter because it was a ‘torch’. Yes, it was a torch lighter, but still a lighter and not a torch.
The supervisor agreed, esp when I pulled the print of the TSA web site out of my pocket.
So I kept my Colibri lighter and that was the last time it ever flew with me.
Would a terrorist be willing to drink from the sippy cup?
Or was the “spillage” an attempt to pour it all out?
A Muslim would have passed through with no questions.
You got that right.
I don't. They don't do a thing except hassle people. And no I don't believe they have prevented a single thing from happening. I haven't been treated as badly as this, but I've had my experiences with the knuckleheads from the TSA.
I am sorry for this lady ... however... there ARE two sides to every story. Just give up the darn sippy cup...you KNOW you can’t carry liquids with you (I think that’s still the rule?) and it’s just going to cause trouble. After witnessing some pretty horrible behavior by airline passengers, I am not totally ready to believe she’s Miss Innocent. Yet.
Yeah, there's one of those Barney Fife types at the airport in Dallas. He really seems to enjoy the "work" he does.
Could race be involved here? Monica Emmerson, after all, is terribly blonde.
___________________
My thoughts too. Who knows?
Fired??? That's grounds for a promotion! Or at a bare minimum a flowery letter of commendation in his or her personnel jacket.
We can't allow the citizens to even think they can get away with bing uppity.
I don’t fly. Personally, I refuse to pay that much money to be harassed like that. But if I had to fly, I would find the rules and go along with them.
But not the sheeple. BAAAAH. BAAAH. They will whine and gripe because they can’t carry a bottle of water on a plane but if a plane gets blown up, they will be the first to complain about a lack of security. If the sign says “no liquids”, they don’t make exceptions just for you. They didn’t make an exception for Michael Vicks weed...er, water and they won’t do it for you.
And because she wasn’t prescient enough to know that said pigs where on a severe power trip that day, ITS ALL HER FAULT?
Man, have I got a gulag for you!
She immediately "demands to see a supervisor" and is "ordered to apologize for the spilled water".
I bet there's a lot more to this story. I bet she gets into these tangles a lot.
I’m just wondering if there’s a way to get the TSA to screen out all toddlers from flights.
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