Wearing a Bowtie as an Option


We got back from New York a couple of days ago.  

The Airport Screening in New York was horrible.  I thought Los Angeles was bad, but this was the worst treatment I got.  Typically, they require one to remove  shoes and jacket, all pockets emptied, and no metallic objects.  I knew all these as I am frequent flyer.  This time one of the screeners yelled at me for putting two carry-on bags on one bin.  In Denver Airport, they didn't want me to put them on the bins.  But this was New York.  

The guy called me Pappy (maybe because I have gray hair), and told me to remove my scarf.  I suppose if I had a tie, they would ask me to remove it too?  Once I got in the x-ray machine, I was told to remove my belt.  I reasoned with the screener that the buckle was plastic.  He said he didn't ask what it was but asked that I remove it.  Then he made me empty my pockets, which was already empty.  So I pulled out the front pockets of my jeans to show him there was nothing inside.  And then he asked to empty the back pocket.  How in the world can I show him that my back pockets were empty.  These were Levis.  So I turned around and showed him my behind and tried to feel my back pockets.  Then he insisted that I stepped on the yellow spots, which I already did.  He yelled at me that all my feet should be perfectly inside.  It appears that the x-ray didn't see anything suspicious.  Yet after the x-ray, he frisked me like I was a criminal.  

Obviously, these people have an attitude.  The screener had a strong foreign accent.  I am not a racist but I think the screener was probably some hotshot chief back in his hometown.  It was half past 9 in the morning and I already wanted something to drink.  I mean I'm talking about adult beverages.  Rose and I found a bar inside the airport and chilled out with our glasses of Sauvignon Blanc.

What does this image had to do with my story?  Nothing, really.  I just want to include it in my post.  (Shot in Manhattan, New York with my iPhone 7 plus.)  I'm thinking if I would have worn a tie, would I still be mistreated the way I did at the airport?  Probably.  Either way.  You dress down, some people will look down on you.  You dress up, they will humiliate you because they can.  People can be mean.  When we were in Italy, the waitress passed us by three times while she served people who came after us.  She was white and had blond hair.  She probably thought it was demeaning to serve people of color.  After all, my ethnic brothers and sisters are typically the janitors, the housemaids, and the low paying job holders that she was familiar with.  Poor Ms Whitey.  She was just too ignorant to know.

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