Anne, may your family get a break soon.

So, not the brightest thing to do, but it seems like many people could have such a lapse.

Especially when not going for the specific purposes of boarding a plane, but rather going to pick someone up.

Something else I was being mildly cranky about in email, having seen now what the shirt looked like [link] and seeing pictures of Ms. Simpson herself (she appears to be A/PI), is that part of me is wondering if the airport people would have even noticed or cared about the shirt, were she, oh, say, clearly white.

Something else I was being mildly cranky about in email, having seen now what the shirt looked like [link]

I have yet to see a picture of the outside of the sweatshirt....

Happy Birthday, smonster!

...it didn't look like an unnatural color. Would Sunday School really get bent out of shape if you dyed your hair a color found in nature? WTF?

Well, I don’t think so, but what do I know?

Oh, Anne. Your poor mom. Poor you. Hugs and thoughts and prayers all around. And if your mom needs anything while in MA, let me know.

Hec, you around?

I have yet to see a picture of the outside of the sweatshirt....

I read the whole Boing Boing thread, and I think that actually was the outside of the sweatshirt.

Just some arty electronic thing she made and then wore to the airport.

Yeah.

Well, in her defense, the electronic thing was inside the jacket and she wore the jacket all the time and she just grabbed it without thinking and headed off to the airport early in the morning.

So, not the brightest thing to do, but it seems like many people could have such a lapse.

I think the electronic thing was on the outside, because how else would security have even seen it if it were on the inside?

Also, from reading the articles, it sounds like she went in, asked about a flight's status, and when an airport employee asked what the hell her electronic shirt was, she just walked away without answering.

Honestly, I'm on the other side of the internet, and I have the leisure to look at pictures of the shirt and say, "Well of COURSE that isn't a bomb -- anyone could see that!", but the fact of the matter is, airport employees are still twitchy about stuff like that, AND I really don't think it's fair to assume that airport gate agents/ticket clerks/whatever can just tell at a glance that an unfamiliar, obviously homemade electronic device is just a fashion statement.

Mostly, though, even if the airport employee *did* think "Hey, that's plastic and a Duracell; that's not a bomb," when the employee asked the student about it, she didn't answer, and then walked away.

Sure, it's 8:00 in the morning, she's undercaffeinated, maybe she's a total MIT genius who spaces on practical stuff like answering questions that are directed to her. I get that. Maybe she was thinking about the person whose plane she was meeting, and didn't even hear the airport employee's question. That happens.

But because of the unfortunate combination of paranoia, history (how many of the flights on 9-11 flew out of Logan?), weird homemade electronic shit on someone's clothing, and the lack of response when directly asked WTF is with your shirt, the police's actions seem pretty reasonable to me.

Ok. I'm heading to bed. Hec, if you come by, could you link me to a few of your favorite short hair picture websites? I need some direction of where to go to help my mom out.

Hec, if you come by, could you link me to a few of your favorite short hair picture websites? I need some direction of where to go to help my mom out.

vw, I usually use the search function at UK Hairdressers. Unlike most other style sites they don't have tons of pop ups and their search functionality allows you to specify a length, color and cut, but then allows you to search sideways for "show me other cuts like this" or "more styles by this salon" that usually lets you track down something interesting.

Btw, great hair color and cut on you.

Hey LAistas. Apparently LA eyeworks is having their kick-ass glasses frames sale this weekend. Not sure if it's all branches or just the Costa Mesa branch. But it's killer deals with fashionable frames.

But because of the unfortunate combination of paranoia, history (how many of the flights on 9-11 flew out of Logan?), weird homemade electronic shit on someone's clothing, and the lack of response when directly asked WTF is with your shirt, the police's actions seem pretty reasonable to me.

Assuming that she really didn't answer, and actually was asked, then some kind of action being taken is one thing.

Pressing charges AFTER it was found to be a non-malicious fuck up and compounding that by saying she's just lucky they didn't use deadly force is an entirely different ball of wax.

Fuck that shit.

Pressing charges AFTER it was found to be a non-malicious fuck up and compounding that by saying she's just lucky they didn't use deadly force is an entirely different ball of wax.

But do we know that?

I think the possibility of "joke/art/prank" is still viable, isn't it?

I think the possibility of "joke/art/prank" is still viable, isn't it?

Not from the sounds of it, no. It's an outside possibility at best.

Eh. I need to remember to stop reading blog and news comment threads on things like this, because my outrage circuits are overloaded from the amount of racist, sexist, militaristic shit I've read today.