One Step Forward, Two Steps Back For Musicians And Airports

Just when it looked like it might be safe to dip a toe in the waters of airline travel, a recent incident involving the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and flutist Jessica Schmitz at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport should bring some old fashioned Jaws level anxiety back to the process.

Norman Lebrecht detailed Schmitz’s account in SlippedDisc article from 10/4/2015 and it is a genuinely stomach wrenching account involving what appears to be the result of nothing more than one or more TSA agent’s callous attitude.

On a related note, there’s a timely video titled “Why The TSA Doesn’t Stop Terrorist Attacks” from Adam Conover, host of truTV’s Adam Ruins Everything, a television program that uses “a combination of comedy, history and science to dispel widespread misconceptions about everything we take for granted.”

Although it isn’t likely to help Schmitz feel any better about her ordeal, it does provide some entirely relevant context to the incident (and hopefully a bit of vindication for Schmitz). Be sure not to miss the bit at 3:12 about “security theater.”