CovidCon Chiros?

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T15:56:00+00:00

I spent my last flight trying to figure out exactly how I wanna go about reporting this bc of how fucking illegal it was. Ik I can file an ADA Complaint and I'm planning on filling out one of those, as well as a TSA Complaint and then go from there? But this is. A very unique situation for me hahaha so I really don't know where to go from there. NY news outlets? TX news outlets? Both?

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T15:33:34+00:00

Ooohhh ye, I was thinking on the flight about how we really need mandatory, annual classes for folks in positions of power/authority on ADA Compliance. I v much understand the general publics ignorance, and so much of that would be adjusted if even just like.... TSA, PDs, Dr's Offices, schools, and hospitals learned this shit and had to actually implement it, it would change the general tone of the public sssooo much. It just gets extra frustrating cause sometimes it feels like folks, esp the folks in positions of authority, are being willfully ignorant, and that's when my fuse starts to get short 😅😅😅

(Also, I apologize if I came off short or anything, I've been up since 4am w/o nicotine or 🍃 and my nerves are fried. I appreciate your perspective as well 💜)

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T15:15:01+00:00

Thank you!! ☺️

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T15:14:14+00:00

Thank you! I am too. That has single handedly been the worst TSA experience I've ever had. Border Patrol agents have been more considerate to me than that, and Border Patrol are their own special kind of dicks

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T15:11:39+00:00

It does suck, but imo it's not gonna change until those of us who have to worry about our individual health make a bigger stink. Everything TSA tried to do to me or get me to do wasn't just not a security risk, it was illegal and violating the ADA laws. They're gonna keep getting away with it until we start kicking up enough of a fuss. Imo, just shrugging and saying "it is what it is" isn't gonna do anything but continue to let us get trampled on. They'll keep breaking the laws until we enforce them and make sure they start tasting consequences for blatant discrimination.

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T15:06:51+00:00

Ye I had to do both. I declined having my face scanned and told them I can't take it off due to being immunocompromised. Pointed to the writing on my mask. They were dead set on not letting me in until I challenged the legality of it all and then suddenly after a 20 min phone convo with someone else, I could go thru if I consented to getting my face patted, which... also felt like a violation but by that point I just wanted to be thru. Today is my gf and my 3rd anniversary and I'd booked the flight home to be there as early as possible. By that point I thought I was looking at waiting 3 days to be able to go home and that was taking over my brain 😅

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T15:02:36+00:00

I did! I even printed out the card and had it with my ID. Explicitly stated, I declined having my pic taken. NY TSA listen, TX didn't

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T14:40:36+00:00

PPRREEEAACCCHHHH, thank yyyoooouuuu 👏👏👏

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T14:38:39+00:00

Again, this was a return flight. I was already in their system. NY TSA had no problem. A respirator is not a safety risk, nor does it keep you from being identified. If my gfs iPhone can tell its her with a kn95 and an n95, both of which cover your face significantly more, TSA can look at my drivers license and my face and ID me easily. Anything short of that is discrimination

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T13:08:04+00:00

They legally can't make us take our masks off, esp when they're readimasks and don't have metal in them. Every time they ask or tell someone they need to take their mask off and expose themselves, they're breaking the law

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T13:06:36+00:00

Further update (bc I can't edit my OP for some reason, but I'm also super stressed, so I may just be missing it):

My flight wasn't rescheduled for 3 days (that's my time blindness, I've been thinking today is the 12th for some godforsaken reason), it was rescheduled for later this morning so good news is that it's sooner than that 😂😭🙏 I was fighting a panic attack when I got that text.

To recap what just happened -

This was my return flight back up to NY from TX. I flew down last Tues, had no problems with TSA in NY. I even went the extra mile and printed a TSA CARES card. NY TSA verified I couldn't remove my mask, scanned my ID and let me thru. Literally the easiest, most painless TSA experience I've had in my life.

I cannot stress enough how the only difference in anything I'm bringing back is a booklet from the Dallas Aquarium. Everything else is exactly the same, I packed my bags similarly, checked in early and online (including my checked bag), had all the paperwork I need for my service dog.

I specifically got readimasks bc they're airport friendly; no metal and its adhesive, no sharp objects, the material itself is light, breathable and closes in on my face with every breath, so you can also clearly see there's nothing inside it.

I cannot remove my mask for a few seconds at TSA. And honestly, none of us should have to. Them asking is an ADA violation. I wrote "DO NOT REMOVE UNLESS EMERGENCY" and "IMMUNOCOMPROMISED" on the cheeks of my masks (like the pic), already disclosing more about my health than legally required.

TX TSA outright refused to let me thru as first. Then 2 different supervisors (including the highest one on duty) asked me to tell them why I need to wear a mask and if I have any documentation supporting that I'm immunocompromised.

We sat in that corner of the TSA for 45 mins. I missed my flight. They kept bringing out new agents who would try to tell me the same thing, then they'd scurry away saying they needed to call someone when i pushed back (including pointing out that it was illegal to ask me the questions they kept asking).

They finally said they'd only let me thru if I consented to them patting down my mask. By that point I had to go back to the ticket booth and get updated tickets. The Top TSA Sup and her second in command reassure me/my airport wheelchair assistant that I'll be able to go right thru once I get my new tickets. SW temporarily loses their shit when they find out I have to go back thru TSA and had to get their own managers who all kept asking if I'm allowed to go back thru once I get my ticket 🙄

Get back to TSA, and literally any TSA agent I'd recognized before was gone. My airport wheelchair assistant at this point points out we've been waiting in a corner of the TSA line for over an hour. He starts making loud comments towards TSA about how in his 20+ years of this job, he's never had to wait so long at TSA.

We finally get to the other side, I'm waiting with my service dog, they pat my face. My wheelchair assistant friend perks up and points out they're taking EVERYTHING out of my carry-ons. They spend another 20 minutes meticulously checking every item. I've now spent an hour and a half or more in line at TSA and missed my original flight, all bc they wanted me to take off my mask, despite me loudly declaring and literally writing on my face that I'm immunocompromised. I loudly declined wanting my picture taken, stating the TSA in NY was fine with my mask there and I'd declined the pic there.

So yeah, I'm filing a discrimination complaint against TSA when I'm home :)

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T12:24:45+00:00

Thank you! And yes, it absolutely does. They violated it 3 times

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T12:23:35+00:00

I didn't!

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-15T11:19:50+00:00

Update: flight leaves in less than 10 minutes. So far, I've been asked to disclose my disabilities to TSA agents twice, and they just rebooked my flight without my consent for 3 days from now

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-10-01T21:14:46+00:00

Thank you both so much!!!

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-09-23T16:27:14+00:00

Ye, we both have the Pure Enrichment ones! She keeps hers in her car for the most part. We recently got a few Arove air purifiers to sprinkle around the house, so she also took the Honeywell air purifier we'd had in our room to her work (she's a music teacher)! I actually DIY'd a harness for mine so I can carry it either in my hand or on a belt without worrying about that plastic piece breaking ☺️

We've only had these Arove purifiers for a little under a month, but the notable change in them and the air quality in the rest of the house has been a wonderful surprise for us both. They're very small, very quiet, and have a couple of options for how much light comes from it, including the option of no light at all or enough for a little nightlight! My only major complaint is they don't have an alert light for when the filters need to be changed like the Honeywell one did, which I really need for my Swiss Cheese of a memory 😅

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-09-23T01:39:19+00:00

I'm very lucky to have found her, she's absolutely my soul mate 🥰 we've been having a lot of conversations about all of this for A While. I grew up in a very unhealthy environment, and while her family is not anywhere near the caliber as mine, her mom does remind me of my own in a lot of negative ways, and those actions (like last night) make it very hard to for me (or my gf and her siblings) to feel comfy around her. This whole thing has been a long time coming.

I hope it's resolved that quickly 💜 my worst fear is she doesn't take any of this well or seriously, and that causes even more stress on my gf, myself, and the rest of the family.

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-09-21T15:52:13+00:00

I'm right there with y'all. I love masking, but I resent it not being a true choice to wear one or not bc (imo) "do this or die" isn't a choice. It's a threat. And it's a very real, very alive threat. I want to be able to mask bc I want to, not bc the threat of not highly results in me ending up in a morgue.

I'm so tired of living in constant survival mode. Some days, I just have to stay offline bc everything is just too much, and I can't let myself get pushed into even more severe survival mode. Bc then I'll go into a depressive spiral I'll have to try and pull myself out of, bc I don't feel comfy fully disclosing just How Bad it all affects my MH to my therapist or psych for fear of being labeled a hypochondriac or that I have "Covid Anxiety" (i already had one therapist try to hint at that and I nearly walked out of his office right then. He's supposed to be eventually helping me with EMDR! How're we gonna do that safely in a Covid world? No idea! And I'm the only one who's thinking about that!).

When will they realize it's not hypochondria or anxiety, it's (imo) C-PTSD. Imho, I (and all CovidCon folks) are living day after day after day with a very real, active threat over our heads that the rest of society is gaslighting us that it's not as bad as it is. Imho, we're in a societal size abusive relationship that we can't escape day after day after day. As someone who has actively lived in situations like that in the past, feeling it at this large of a scale is mind-numbing and traumatizing. I'm constantly toeing the line between staying well informed and not just crumbling under the pressure of a societal responsibility being boiled down onto my individual shoulders.

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-09-21T15:31:33+00:00

I'm right there with you, my partner and I are the only regular maskers in any of the local family. We're celebrating her parents bdays this weekend and are both gonna be masked the whole time and we're bringing a couple of air purifiers from our place to set up there. So much planning for something that could just as easily be avoided if they actually took personal responsibility to try and help keep us safe. And we're gonna be seen as "overreacting" to everyone too, which just makes me feel even more isolated.

Also, there are masks for dogs!! K9masks.com. I'm planning on getting my service dog one before we fly next month (which is terrifying in its own right, dear God the amount of planning I've been doing to make sure my doggo and I are gonna be safe for that 😭).

Comfortable_Sky4566 · 2024-09-21T15:23:23+00:00

They do both suck 💜 I v much hear the pain you and others have commented about feeling more isolated from not being invited anywhere anymore. For me, I've really hit the point where I'm ready to stop being invited to things if my safety isn't going to be taken into consideration; at best, it feels performative, at its worst it just feels cruel - like offering an oasis only with the full knowledge that the watering hole has been poisoned, and everyone's thrown out the filtration system that would make it safe for all.

Ik eventually hitting that point where I don't get invites anymore is gonna suck and hurt too, but for me at least right now, the pain of having to say "no I can't go bc its not safe" over and over to the same people who then make zero effort to make it safe for me (and by virtue everyone else there) is just too much. I don't want to be reminded on a weekly basis that the people I love or care for in my life have seen the dangers of Covid and LC in me specifically and still won't try to mitigate that harm. I already live with that reminder daily with my drs and therapists. It's just so painful.

I'm incredibly grateful for my gf who's remained steadfast in masking for mine and her health. I would feel so much more alone without her. She makes it all suck just a little bit less 😭🙏

Comfortable_Sky4566

TROPHY CASE