DUBLIN, Rep. of Ireland—Writer Jill Filipovic got a little surprise when she arrived at her hotel in Dublin on Monday. She'd packed well for her trip, including all the basic necessities—like her vibrator—and when she opened her bag, what should be sitting on top but a form from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) disclosing that her luggage had been examined before her flight had left Newark (NJ) International Airport.
But what drew her attention was some writing in the margin of the form: "GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL."
In a post on her blog on Feministe.us, titled "Your tax dollars at work," Filipovic described the situation thusly: "This is what TSA will do when they inspect a bag you checked and find a, um, 'personal item': Total violation of privacy, wildly inappropriate and clearly not ok, but I also just died laughing in my hotel room."
Fortunately, she got over the humor of the situation and began thinking about the "total violation of privacy" and "wildly inappropriate" parts, and told ABC News that she would probably be "filing a complaint with the TSA once she returns to the U.S."
For its part, when ABC contacted the TSA for a comment, a spokesperson for the agency downplayed the event, claiming that TSA is only "one of several entities" that may rummage through checked baggage, and stated that so far, there is "no concrete evidence who wrote the note."
Attorney Jonathan Turley agreed with Filipovic, writing, "If true, it is a pretty serious breach of privacy to send jokes or taunts to passengers based on their personal items," but noted, "However, what would the damages be in such a case, particularly given the right to inspect and Filipovic’s admission that she found the note funny?"
On the other hand, Infowars.com writer Paul Joseph Watson, while noting that 67,000 passenger loss claims have been filed against the TSA during the eight years the agency has been in operation, opined that Filipovic should consider herself lucky that "the TSA goon didn’t just steal the item, but they only tend to do that when it’s something really valuable like a laptop, jewelry, precious metals, or cash."
But while Filipovic may initially have found the note funny, considering the hundreds of adult movie stars who travel frequently around the U.S. and the world, and who undoubtedly bring their sex toys—some much more elaborate and/or personal than a simple vibrator—it would be nice if TSA looked into the matter with sufficient seriousness to insure that porn women don't have to suffer the same feelings of invasion of privacy than Filipovic did.
Indeed, TSA agents could spend their time much more fruitfully making sure this doesn't happen again.
