Sometime about a year after 9/11, I had been called out on a reserve extra crew position and worked from LAX to HNL, then was scheduled to deadhead from HNL to OGG and work the Maui flight back to LA.
Over at the inter-island terminal gate for my flight to Maui, I was standing in the boarding line, and of course, being a crew member in uniform, was called out by the TSA for additional screening. (This was when they were doing random checks at the boarding gate.) They pulled me aside, and in full view of all other passengers, started going through my bags.
Then I got "wanded." The guy asked me to take off my shoes, which were just ballet slipper-type shoes, and he stuck his hands (no gloves) down inside my shoes. Where my feet had just been. Not to mention the "Ew" factor, but did he think there was really room for anything else down there?
Then the best part was when he asked me to lift up my feet so he could "wand" the bottoms of my feet. I am not kidding. I was wearing a dress with sheer stockings and he wanted to run the metal detector across the bottoms of my feet. My sheer-stockinged feet. I looked up at the passengers in line closest to me and just shook my head while he was doing this and they all started laughing. It was so supremely ridiculous it was actually funny.
Made me wonder if the guy just had a foot fetish or something.
Political correctness run amok. It’s literally killing this nation.
Obviously something was funny about that, and I think you hit the nail on the head with the foot fetish analysis...
You did take your grievance to the airline you work for and the TSA???
Then the best part was when he asked me to lift up my feet so he could "wand" the bottoms of my feet. I am not kidding. I was wearing a dress with sheer stockings and he wanted to run the metal detector across the bottoms of my feet. My sheer-stockinged feet. I looked up at the passengers in line closest to me and just shook my head while he was doing this and they all started laughing. It was so supremely ridiculous it was actually funny.
Made me wonder if the guy just had a foot fetish or something.
I think it's pretty obvious that he had a foot fetish.
No, the TSA carefully screens for Perverts in the applicaton process. You have to produce your drivers licence and proof of birth date. No way a Pervert could get in with that check.