from the Legal Satyricon of Marc Randazzoa, via Nobody’s Business, comes this marketing video of the EMD bracelet, a different concept in airline security. Marc notes that “This is not a parody,” and I didn’t take it as such.
Oddly, and no doubt to the chagrin of many, I can see the merit in the concept. But can we ever trust in-flight personnel with the ability to zap us at will?
It’s bad enough that police, trained (theoretically) to handle emergency situations, to use restraint, to use weapons and to distinguish when force is appropriate (really theoretically), love the taser too much. So do we put an equivalent weapon in the hands of flight attendants who just might be annoyed when you ask for that extra pillow or complain about the person in the next seat spilling over into yours?
Does it ever seem like there are plenty of good answers to problems, if only they didn’t involve people?
Plus, if you get some slimy, sweaty one, it would be really gross.
Simple Justice
“In addition, the bracelet could permit the tracking of the passenger through the terminal.”
I’d really prefer that people not know whether I’ve spent the past 20 minutes in the “adult” section of the magazine shop, or spent it in the duty free shop gathering as much Jack Daniels as will fit in my carry-on, or spent it toe-tapping in a restroom stall…or even just spent it waiting on line at Starbucks.
And…couldn’t these bracelets be easily defeated by putting some barrier between the bracelet and one’s skin? (Especially if you got a slimy gross kind that Scott seems destined to receieve, the barrier will slide in more easily.)
And if the bracelets are easy enough to take off after your flight, why aren’t they easy enough for a hijacker to take off mid-flight? By the time it comes off and the “Broken Bracelet” alarm alerts the crew (assuming such an alarm exists), isn’t it too late to activate the stun-effect?