One fundie's tale of persecution from the TSA

[Sola]

Why didn't she call to her son and tell him to wait?

I got patted down 4 years ago at Rhodes airport. I can't say it was a nice experience having some butch (she was really butch!), female, Greek security guard patting me down but I know that she was only doing her job.

[Maggie Mae]

I have my own thoughts on TSA and their inefficiency, but, wow that woman is insane. I fly on a fairly regular basis for work, and in dresses, skirts, jeans, pants, and even workout gear. No one has ever told me that a dress or skirt equals a pat down. Of course, I don't wear floor length denim skirts or costumes from the Victorian period, so maybe next time I fly, I'll wear my hogwarts robes and see if I get a pat down. Then I can cry persecution, as clearly TSA hates wizards.

I don't trust grown women who can't say/write out the names of body parts and who have to star out the word sex.

Why didn't she tell her kid to wait for her? He's 8, not 4. Why couldnt she articulate the fact that while she was being patted down, her kid was out of site? I doubt TSA wants the lawsuit/bad press if a child were to be kidnapped while they did additional screening. Not that I think it's likely, as I don't think that there are child molesters lurking in every public washroom and behind every tree.

[lilah]

I've never had an issue with TSA, they are usually very polite and nice. Even when I was flying with my at the time 8-month old niece and we brought formula on the plane, they just waved some PH stick over the bottle and tested it that way, and were really polite about the whole thing. I admit the x-ray thing is kind of creepy but it's not like it can recognize your face or anything.

Pat downs are never fun. I think my worst pat down was actually going into a rock concert at a nearby college. For some reason I needed a pat down to go see Tenacious D, done by someone in a CSC yellow jacket. I've worked for CSC before (they will hire groups of volunteers and then pay the volunteer group money, my clubs would fundraise that way since it better money than a bake sale) and I know how little training you get. It was very inappropriate to me to be patted down by someone who clearly had about 15 minutes of training. In general working for CSC was kind of awful since I was instructed to search bags and I had to throw away a candybar from a woman who claimed to be diabetic. I felt awful.

Does anyone think that it's sort of a bratty and entitled attitude to say "Well I dont' fit the profile of a terrorist, go profile one of them Muslims"

[treemom]

I have a friend who is an "ebil" Catholic and she got pulled down and patted down privately because she was wearing a skirt and they couldn't reach "her groin area". Simple as that. The TSA agent flat out told her "if you were wearing pants we woudln't have an issue"

Personally, i'd always go for a pat down rather than a nekkid scan. Its not like they're gonna pinch my ass or anything, its all business.

I am super extremely touch sensitive. Probably part of my being crazy. The old style pat downs were tolerable...but the new ones would be really, really hard.

[failsafe]

I get patted down probably one in every three times I fly, and I fly a lot, and have been to at least one airport in every state. The person above who said that pat downs are usually done by (for women) disinterested women who narrate what they're doing is pretty correct. As always, you'll have your complete assholes in any group, and it's important to know what your rights ARE when you're going through airport security, so you are aware if they are actually getting violated, but it's really not a histrionic experience, just a pain in the ass sometimes. I have my doubts on whether it makes us actually any safer, which bothers me (if it's going to take up all the time, it should do more than prevent the terrorist attack that just happened - it should be forward thinking).

I'm also not even necessarily against profiling (other countries use profiling and it DOES work, but it is obviously not an ideal solution in terms of American ideals) but what happened to her was not profiling, at least in the sense I think she's thinking of. If I was wearing a big winter coat through the line, they would "profile" me too, simply because while pants or a slim fitting skirt probably prevent you from hiding anything under your clothes, an oversized frumper could have like, five bombs under there. She seems to think the metal detector is the be-all, end-all, but it really isn't, it's just the first pass.

[Crackedeggs]

well, I am totally opposed to pat downs, less so of body scans - don't like them, but can live with them - but the pat down thing is what cost me $300 when my teen freaked out at the thought of being touched by strangers in her private areas. Yeah, the Dr touches there. But she knows the Dr. The Dr is not some 8$ an hour goon. We've had nasty experiences with TSA in Philly BEFORE all this shit started, so I dont' blame her, some of these people, really.... For me, if I got the pat down, I'd rip a fart while they were back there to protest. But I can see why other people don't want to fly.

As for the fundie, no sweetie, you are not being persecuted because you are a Christian, it's because you are flying, period.

[Kelya]

Does anyone think that it's sort of a bratty and entitled attitude to say "Well I dont' fit the profile of a terrorist, go profile one of them Muslims"

Its INCREDIBLY bratty and entitled and just plain inaccurate. For some reason terrorist has become equal to Muslim, and Muslim has come to mean crazy extremist with brown skin, and its just two pronged inaccuracy, since first off, terrorists aren't uniformly Muslim extremists, hello Oklahoma City Bombings. And secondly, Muslims do not fit one category of description just like Jews, Christians and other religions...we all come in various shapes, sizes, colors and nationalities. Brown doesn't equal Muslim and Muslim doesn't equal terrorist so the idea behind the sentiment is just wrong on MULTIPLE levels!

[anniebgood]

Skirts and good looking women are a trigger. They may say it's not but if you watch a checkpoint you'll see it happen. TSA will deny it but even if it happens 50% of the time it's still too much.

As for our fundie, drama queens get the press.

[Kishiria]

I fly a LOT and I actually feel for this woman. I object to the fact that I have to be seen naked or get felt up every time I fly. The processes are not only invasive and humiliating, they're not even effective. Metal detectors work far better, but they aren't as good "theatre". They don't make it LOOK as if the TSA is doing anything. So now they use the porno-scanners which cannot detect any of the substances that have been used in terrorism in the past, or the pat-downs which are the same way. And if you're really unlucky, you can get both.

Let's look at the 9/11 terrorists. They bought one-way tickets in cash and had no baggage. Gee, nothing suspicious about THAT! They got their box cutters or whatever on the other side of security, which could have been done by an airline or airport employee who was in on the plan. To this day they aren't screened in any way.

The "shoe bomber" and the "underwear bomber" came in from other countries and were apprehended by fellow passengers. To this day, the TSA has never, repeat, never caught any terrorists.

[treemom]

I fly a LOT and I actually feel for this woman. I object to the fact that I have to be seen naked or get felt up every time I fly. The processes are not only invasive and humiliating, they're not even effective. Metal detectors work far better, but they aren't as good "theatre". They don't make it LOOK as if the TSA is doing anything. So now they use the porno-scanners which cannot detect any of the substances that have been used in terrorism in the past, or the pat-downs which are the same way. And if you're really unlucky, you can get both.

Let's look at the 9/11 terrorists. They bought one-way tickets in cash and had no baggage. Gee, nothing suspicious about THAT! They got their box cutters or whatever on the other side of security, which could have been done by an airline or airport employee who was in on the plan. To this day they aren't screened in any way.

The "shoe bomber" and the "underwear bomber" came in from other countries and were apprehended by fellow passengers. To this day, the TSA has never, repeat, never caught any terrorists.

I don't disagree. But, to be fair, box cutters weren't prohibited then so much like the shoe bomber and underwear bomber they just brought them with them.

I don't agree with the current procedures...but metal detectors aren't that effective either. Most of us don't get assaulted by belts.

[bekkah]

Ok, TSA is ridicoulous. I have flown 12 times in the past 4 months. Only 2 of the flights have been domestic. I think you have to realize security is high everywhere. When I was in India, I was patted down every single time I got on the plane. One of the flights I flew domestically was just the regular old metal detector, no nekkid body scan and that was the day after xmas. I'm all for safety and I am sick of people whining about that. I do think they need to get off their soap box about persecution cuz it happens to everyone. When the TSA pats someone down, it suppose to be someone of the same gender.

[treemom]

Ok, TSA is ridicoulous. I have flown 12 times in the past 4 months. Only 2 of the flights have been domestic. I think you have to realize security is high everywhere. When I was in India, I was patted down every single time I got on the plane. One of the flights I flew domestically was just the regular old metal detector, no nekkid body scan and that was the day after xmas. I'm all for safety and I am sick of people whining about that. I do think they need to get off their soap box about persecution cuz it happens to everyone. When the TSA pats someone down, it suppose to be someone of the same gender.

Just for the record for those it is a trigger for it doesn't matter.

Sexual assault and abuse survivors can have a hard time with it. People like me, who are extremely touch sensitive, doesn't matter to me. In fact, groping me roughly would probably be better than having a sensitive woman do the enhanced pat down. (soft, squishy touch is hard for me)

I am not yelling persecution...but it doesn't really matter to me what gender it is...it still is going to feel bad and I am still going to have to meditate to get through it.

[Angri-la]

Skirts and good looking women are a trigger.

No wonder I am always chosen at airports for "special treatment". I wondered why, now I know! I tend to wear slim, knee length skirts and trim cashmere sweaters when traveling.

Personally, I think the nude scans are more for catching drug smugglers than terrorists, and I want to know why people are still able to "accidentally" smuggle guns onto planes. I fly at least once a month, and I saw someone, recently, voluntarily check his (unloaded) gun that made it through the Xray, with the TSA supervisor. He was given a pass while I was given the pat down. It was a smaller airport with the nekkid scanners, too.

[Shoobydoo]

Okay, this may be because I'm young and can't remember my few experiences with flying before 9/11 (which happened when I was 10), but.... I really don't care. Pat downs? Don't care. Body scan? Also don't really care. Heck, metal detectors freak me out more than getting patted down because one time when I was about 4 I bumped into one and it went off. The poor TSA man couldn't calm me down at all. :lol: I think the only thing that WOULD make me mind pat downs this was if the personnel was really obviously enjoying it too much, and if they were I would register a complaint with their superiors. This hasn't happened, though, so I continue to not really care.

Just as a note, I am also very touch sensitive. I get extremely uncomfortable when even family touches my neck or the sides of my torso. Yet TSA still somehow doesn't bother me. For me, this is just how air port security works. My memory doesn't really encompass a time when things were any different.

Editied for riffles

[Cassandra]

I'm against the body scans, but thats because I don't actually believe the scans just 'disappear' at the end of the day, and no one needs to see a weird distored digital image of me naked. Or a regular image for that matter.

[SunnyAndrsn]

Luckily, I'm a fat, middle aged (almost) woman, so YEAH!!! I can get through security faster/easier.

Skirts and good looking women are a trigger. They may say it's not but if you watch a checkpoint you'll see it happen. TSA will deny it but even if it happens 50% of the time it's still too much.

As for our fundie, drama queens get the press.

[doggie]

Did she have a I am a christian Shirt on? if not how the hell did they know she was a Christian? Maybe she had the Christian glow?

[bbfreethinker]

Did she have a I am a christian Shirt on? if not how the hell did they know she was a Christian? Maybe she had the Christian glow?

Plus, aren't like 80% of Americans Christian? But, wait, only the frumpy skirt wearers are True Christians. And everyone is out to get the True Christians.

[usedtobenice]

doggie, doncha know she had the joy, joy down in her heart? ;)

The way she spoke, I thought the kid was 2-4. Why didn't the 8yo understand not to wander off? She must've used the wrong plumbing line. /sarcasm