This time it wasn't funny

Last September I went to immigration court and had to go through security. Because I biked everywhere I went, I had my backpack and my lunch box. Lunch was tomato sandwiches (as it generally was those weeks--heaven) and included a knife to cut my tomato. A knife that clearly couldn't make it through security and was confiscated. I found it pretty amusing and proceeded to tell the story many times (I think the blog might be the only forum I didn't tell this story in).  Of course my version then had more details, but that's the gist. Anyway, I found it all highly amusing.

Well, this week I was back at a federal building (different one) and went through security again. This time I had my crocheting, including a little pair of scissors.  Scissors that will be expensive to replace and that I've had a long time.  They can't ever really be replaced.  I even argued with the security guy about the confiscation. I can agree that they are sharp and dangerous and could be used as a weapon. But what I do not agree with, what still upsets me, is that I am not allowed to walk back out of the building, get my scissors and leave with them.  Why?  Give me a reason that is of such weight that it must be adhered to. Okay, they can't go in.  But why can't I leave and take them with me?

It's been a rough, rough string of months with the "Goliaths" of the world--big companies, policies that treat me as a nothing, instead a human being with thoughts and feelings. And in particular, lately I feel I've been jerked around and mistreated by the federal government (but maybe sometime I'll tell you about my true nemesis, Comcast). So, even though the scissors weren't that big of a deal, they were the straw that broke me.

I started crying. And I cried and cried. I cried openly and freely. I knew how much I needed that cry, personally, and I also thought--people need to be reminded that the people around them are people with feelings, and I'm okay about reminding them of that right now. I wasn't angry, I was hurt and I just cried.

It wasn't funny this time.


Stay tuned for a follow-up installment of this story.