<p>This doesn’t happen to everyone. I flew on tuesday and Thursday this week and I didn’t go through the full body scan nor did I have any kind of pat down.
I wore fitted clothes and made sure everything was as they expected. Belt buckle off, laptop out, toiletries and liquids in baggie, </p>
<p>I was so nervous because of the horror stories. I should have stayed off the internet but I have a colostomy bag and wanted to be prepared and educated.</p>
<p>No problems but now I fly again in 2 weeks.</p>
<p>Oh please. I fly all the time. I’ve been on 11 flights since Nov 2. You take off your shoes, take your computer out, take your coat off, put your belongings on the conveyor belt and walk through the detector just as it’s been for the last 10 years. The drama and exaggeration on here is over the top. Every now and then someone gets a light pat down conducted professionally. Yawn.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, my understanding is that the enhanced security is not at every airport yet. What you’re describing is what’s been in place for years. The new measures are decidedly different.</p>
<p>The pat down I had recently was less than what I receive when I go into the stadium for the local NFL team. They worry about people sneaking food/drink.</p>
<p>What I didn’t like was the guy telling me that if I refused the scan I would have an extensive full body pat down and search of luggage in a very threatening way. I said go ahead and start patting. </p>
<p>I thought about pulling my shirt off and dropping my pants to make it easier but thought better of it.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, clearly you have not had the new enhanced patdown yet, no matter how often you’ve flown.</p>
<p>You don’t know any frequent fliers who are troubled by this? Come to my office of about 175 people. We travel out of O’Hare to all parts of the country, and some of us internationally. Most of us take 2-to-3 roundtrip flights per week. We are PLENTY outraged by the new procedures, and I predict a huge backlash and protest among frequent air travelers.</p>
<p>Finally, this new system just won’t work. As some here have already pointed out, all a terrorist has to do is make use of anal or vaginal cavities to completely circumvent today’s ridiculous, offensive, and expensive systems. Alternatively, do you really believe a suicide bomber would be opposed to a minor abdominal surgery a day or 2 before flight, in which the explosives were stitched into his body, with an innocuous looking remote detonator? </p>
<p>Finally, to paraphrase Ben Franklin, “Those who would sacrifice their freedoms in exchange for security usually end up with neither.”</p>
<p>yay for Ben Franklin! Quoted twice before I got a chance to.</p>
<p>Anyone who thinks this is okay because, hey, doctors do it–well, maybe it would be okay of the TSA agents were trained and paid as professionals, but right now, they are basically minimum wage jobs manned, apparently, by folks that are often, well, not so professional. Which can make all the difference in the world.</p>
<p>One thing I did not say when I wrote about my experience (post #28) was the very “thorough” TSA agent never asked me to pick up my feet. I was wearing black socks and I have a very high arch.</p>
<p>Totally agree and what happens when they manage to blow up a mall or a football stadium full of people? Really isn’t that hard to do and I’m surprised they haven’t already done so. Are we then going to be subjected to body scans or pat down every time we need to shop? Will we need to get to football games 3 hours in advance in order to be searched?</p>
<p>There is a * reasonable * level of inconvenience and humiliation in order to achieve a reasonable level of security and then there’s the point where it’s over the top. I think we have finally hit that point and that’s why there is a public outcry. I fly all the time. I have no wish to expose myself to unnecessary radiation every time nor do I want my body touched. Not flying is not an option for me or for millions of others. Seems like we are caught between a rock and a hard place. :(</p>
<p>We’ll be flying to see my nephew’s new baby soon, and I’m driving an extra hour to Orange County to go through that airport as they have no Rapiscan body scanners (yet.) At this point, it seems that the international airports are the ones with the scanners for the most part, so for awhile at least, you can avoid them by going to one of the smaller regional airports. This will change in the near future, however, as all airports are slated to get the full body scanners in time- which will cost us, as taxpayers, a very pretty penny.</p>
<p>The pat down I had in Helsinki a few months ago seems like it was about equivalent of the descriptions I have seen here. Thorough, touching ALL parts of the body firmly enough to detect if there was something significant under my clothing (besides me).</p>
<p>It just wasn’t that big a deal. The person was doing their job. They did not get any jollies that I could identify from it. Maybe we should split planes – you’all who think you are safe go fly on ones where there are no pat downs and scanners. Keep your shoes on and don’t worry about the liquids, either. Me, I’ll go in the ones where everyone has been checked, thanks. There have been real incidents where terroists tried to use shoe bombs, underwear bombs, and credible intelligence info on liquids to build bombs.</p>
<p>I would not drive 5 extra minutes to avoid the pat down. If you think there is a health risk to the scanner, get the pat down instead. This mass hysteria is ridiculous. More of the big hurrah over nothing that has taken over our society in recent years. You all flatter yourselves to think that someone who does this all day for their job is getting some kind of thrill or even cares what you look or feel like.</p>
<p>I am much more annoyed about the add on fees that have crept into flying in recent years and travelers who bring very large carry ons because they don’t want to pay the bag fees.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why some people are disrespectful of those who are afraid of the more aggressive pat down. I’ll take the pat down over the scanner, no question about that, but I also understand why some people are not at all comfortable- or are extremely uncomfortable, with having a stranger probe their privates. Is this so hard to understand? Just because you may be comfortable with it doesn’t mean someone else is strange or weird or hysterical because they are not.
For those who are worried about the radiation, as I am as a cancer survivor, as well as uncomfortable with being touched in the groin by strangers, it does indeed leave them with very few choices.</p>
<p>It has changed Pizzagirl. I fly for business all the time. I’m platinum on one airline and gold on another. And what you describe is indeed not a big deal and has been going on for the past several years. But within the past few weeks things have changed. Over the years I’ve had a pat-down dozens of times when I beeped the metal detector, but it wasn’t until about two weeks ago that I had my crotch groped because I had beeped the metal detector. When you get your crotch groped by a uniformed stranger at the airport you’ll understand the change yourself.</p>
<p>Ever since TSA hired my mother’s ex-husband I have not been able to believe for a second that I can trust those people not to take advantage. His behavior on the job is the reason I know not to put anything remotely valuable in checked luggage. I would sure as hell not let that man see me naked or touch my crotch, and neither would you if you knew any better. I think to deny that there is any risk of exploitation here is hopelessly naive. If you are aware of that risk and don’t care, more power to you, but to deny it even exists is just a little bit silly.</p>
<p>I just won’t fly now. I had hoped to go overseas sometime soon but I guess it won’t be happening now. You can call me hysterical if you want, I won’t complain, but as someone who has been sexually assaulted I think I am entitled to a free pass on the hysteria issue. Sometimes there’s just no helping it. I’ve never complained once about airport security before now, not even the long lines, but unfortunately there are limits to what I can subject myself to before I have to consider how many nightmares will follow.</p>
<p>I actually think the mass hysteria that is ridiculous is on the part of the people who are willing to have their crotches groped because they are afraid that their plane will be blow up by terrorists. </p>
<p>Seriously folks, you do realize that every year dozens of planes crash due to mechanic failure and/or pilot error. How many crash due to terrorists? I worry far more about a plane crash due to the engine falling off or the pilots screwing up than someone showing up with a bomb. It’s called understanding the risks. Your risk of being blow up by a bomb are minuscule compared to other causes of plane crashes. * Minuscule. *</p>