TSA. Three letters
that make many cringe when they think about going to the airport. But, it’s not always bad and this is one of
those feel good stories you rarely hear.
Mama Cass and I travel a lot and there is no “one size fits all” at TSA
entry points across the country. Each
location has its own way of handling service animals. We have TSA Pre-check so that makes things
easier.
Last week, at Lambert – St. Louis I took Mama’s leash off
and put her in sit-stay. I walked through screening then called her through the
magnetometer. Her collar set it off so we had to go back and do it again
without her chain collar. I walked
through and the young TSA man, without waiting for me, looked at Mama and waved
her to come through. She looked at me and then walked through, not setting off
any alarm. It was then the TSA man
realized he had waved through a dog. He had been on automatic, waving
passengers through and didn’t even think about what he did. He was so happy and amazed he had to tell the
other workers.
Today, we were at the airport and at the TSA Pre-area. Same young TSA agent. He saw Mama, greeted her by name, and had his
co-workers come over to watch. [It was
0730 and no one else was around]. We did
the usual drill and after I walked through he looked at Mama and waved her
through and, of course, she walked through.
He was so proud of himself and the rest of the TSA crew were high-fiving
and celebrating.
