Using the analogy of Rosemary's Baby, should also mention this to those who may not have seen the movie:

The husband sells out Rosemary to the satanic cult by agreeing to drug her so that the "devil" can impregnate her one night.

A good portion of the movie, you're even wondering if what happened to her was just a dream and if she's just imagining something is wrong within her and the people around her (as her husband and other establishment types - such as the doctor and the old, friendly neighbors try to do.)

About a year ago I was flying domestically SFO -> Tampa. I'm a quadriplegic woman - enough strength in my hands to drive my wheelchair, that's about it. I was traveling with 2 family members and my service dog (who accompanies me in the cabin).

The SOP for security screening of people with disabilities is pretty much as ridiculous as it is for able-bodied folks. I get patted down, but the staff is usually so afraid of hurting me that it's pointless. I don't go thru a metal detector, and because metal rods support my spine, the wand is usually disregarded. And my shoes get to stay on. The only "real" security screen is done with little pieces of paper that are swiped over various points of my chair & my body and then put in a little chemical sniffer. The whole thing usually takes less than a minute.

This day in SFO, however, the "officer" assigned to me swiped my palms -- something they'd never done before -- and wouldn't you know it, that set the sniffer off. (Seriously, an actual alarm went off.) I - and my dog, who was none too happy at this point - was immediated surrounded by TSO officials wanting to know if and when I'd handled firearms, ammunition, explosives, and so forth. Try as I might to explain that I don't handle *anything* -- even offering to demonstrate my amazing physical prowess by failing to pick up a bottled water -- The Man was not to be swayed. So I went thru another round of patdowns and chemical swipes (again, positive) while a freaking platoon of TSO employees continued to gather.

After about 15 minutes, we were at an impasse. I couldn't explain what was setting their machine off (especially because the machine apparently doesn't tell them *what* it detects, just that it's Something Bad(tm)). And they weren't about to let me on an airplane with my suspicious (albeit completely useless) hands intact. I just sat there rolling my eyes at my family (who were never questioned or searched) while the storm troopers poked at the machine, looked at me, and whisered amongst themselves.

Finally, a (completely unrelated-to-me) member of the crowd that had gathered to watch the prosecution of Gimpy bin Laden went off in search of a higher authority (you gotta love San Francisco). I never learned the identity or position of the man who arrived, but he was wearing a real (not rent-a-cop) uniform and clearly outranked everyone else on scene. When he found out what was going on, he busted out laughing.

It turns out that a number of prescription medicine, including ones I'd taken that morning, excrete byproducts in sweat that mimic explosive residue. This is something that apparently the TSA is aware of, at least at some levels, but won't make public because The Terrorists could simply take those medications to mask "real" evidence. So across the country, quadriplegics and little old ladies get pegged as the Ones to Watch.

Oy.

Becky, I used to work at a power plant years ago and had to go through bomb detectors every day.

You quickly learn what perfumes to avoid, too.

BTW, at the power plant, no one got avoid security, so the caterers, janitorial staff and even the armed guards didn't get to bypass the system to make things more streamlined, like they do at airports.

You don't get it, the real purpose of the TSA. It's purpose is to intimidate for no good reason other than just wanting to condition the public to being treated rudely while being pushed around by a bunch of low level thugs. For instance, coming into the Seattle-Tacoma airport from Victoria, British Columbia[B.C.] we went thru the TSA gauntlet including taking of of shoes while disembarking. Now this doesn't even make sense. The whole shoe removal should conducted when boarding a plane, not disembarking.Shoe removal was not required on my trip to B.C., or even upon boarding for the next leg of the flight to Detroit. Also, the TSA surly thugs delighted in pushing passenger around just for the sake of doing that. I had some tin foil from gum rappers in various pockets that set the alarms off and the TSA thugs were getting off in the false alarm. Their delight turned to anger and disappointment because their was no terrorist threat. The shoe removal exercise is an experiment by the government to determine just how compliant the public is when pushed around by low life thugs for no good reason. The government is probably delighted with how easily the public can be treated by surly TSA thugs without cause other than imagined threats.

Coming into Miami from Jamaica the sniffer dogs went crazy around my luggage. I observed it from inside the airport so I knew what to expect. At the baggage claim my name was announced and I proceeded as directed. Their were 6 armed government thugs surrounding my decrepit suit case and they were sure drugs were inside. The sniffer dogs were still going ballistic. Now this suitcase had paper thin walls, easily detected. Of course, there were no drugs and boy were the government thugs pissed. I then remarked that what they were doing was a waste, of taxpayers moneywhich they didn't like], 6 armed government thugs surrounding an old man[me]with an unlocked suitcase at which time their supervisor dismissed them, rather surly, and told them to get to work. I had some pine nuts in the suitcase, so I guess that's what set the dogs off. This was in the early 90's. I'm lucky I suppose as the current TSA goons would have probably thrown me to the ground and shot me.