Passengers uneasy with pat-downs

USA Today ^ | 12/14/2001 | Kitty Bean Yancey

[Utah Girl]

It's touch and go at the airport now. Just ask everyday travelers pulled out of line at security checkpoints in these days of ratcheted-up scrutiny and random searches. Pittsburgh grandmother Marguerite Petito was "totally embarrassed" recently in Chicago when a wand beeped, "and the lady asked if it was OK for her to feel my breasts to make sure I was not hiding anything," she recalls. "This she did in front of all these men that were in line. ... I thought, 'Here I am getting felt up in the middle of O'Hare airport!' " The suspicious metal turned out to be the underwire of her bra. Thursday, a passenger at Boston's Logan airport refused a screening and bolted after her bra set off a metal detector. She was let go after being questioned by police. Their close encounters are not isolated ones. With more wands waving at airports than in any Harry Potter tale, running the gantlet of newly toughened screenings can mean allowing the liberties generally accorded only to a date, mate or doctor.

[Joee]

Fine, but physically not practical. Standing for two hours, that is. We have just signed up for a cruise and if they give us BS, I'll ask for my money back and we'll stay home. The ship ports here.

[ChaseR]

"I had my Sig 9mm on my hip the whole time."

GoMulderGo!

[Chemnitz]

I have had two flights on Southwest since 9-11. Three pennies set off the detector and I was wanded by an African 3 days off the boat. I was ultra careful later and I was wanded again. Hate to disappoint you guys and girls, but they are not feeling up every passenger. I object to non-citizens wanding a a non-threatening grandfather and grandmother, but things will calm down soon. It's rather silly to say, "I'll drive rather than fly." The difference for me has not been enormous, comparing pre-9-11 and post-9-11 security. Yes, I liked it much better before, but I still like to fly. Flights and hotel rooms are very cheap.

[Skywalk]

The same idiots that say "Anything to be safer" when they stick a microphone to their face, are the same ones that continue to think that socialist welfare, gun control, public education and various other freedom stealing and humanity-destroying programs are "the way to go." They even think this, when proof to the contrary is presented(Thomas Sowell, Vision of the Anointed..read it)

[cmsgop]

This is exactly why the wife and I are driving to CA this year.1189 miles door to door. It should take us about 21 hrs if I pretend I am Burt Renolds in "Cannonball Run"

[Mulder]

Let me carry my gun on board and I'll be a damn sight safer.

Darn right.

While the security nazis are busy telling us why "it's not safe" for pilots and CCW holders to carry on airplanes, I'll simply refuse to fly.

I'm content driving, where I can carry a gun and protect myself.

If they don't want me flying, where I can protect not only myself but also hundreds on a plane or thousands on the ground, that's THEIR problem.

In the meantime, I'll just drive.

[Utah Girl]

My brother and his wife and kids flew to San Diego for Thanksgiving. My 15 year old niece was randomly selected for a search. The one upsetting thing was that they took her to a room and searched her alone. I would have been screaming bloody murder if they had done that to a daughter of mine. I told my brother next time to absolutely insist on having his wife be there. And then on the way home, my niece was searched yet again because she had bobby pins in her hair, and she was wearing a big old belt buckle. They did search her in full view that time with the wand. My niece thought it was a great adventure.

[Mulder]

They even think this, when proof to the contrary is presented(Thomas Sowell, Vision of the Anointed..read it)

Great book-- one of my favorites.

[Doe Eyes]

Not only do I refuse to fly, but I'm not about to git into these dad gum horseless carriages either. I either walk or ride a horse. End of story.

[cmsgop]

I just hope I don't meet up with this guy.........

[Utah Girl]

LOL!!!

[FITZ]

I will not submit to these kind of searches. It's not so bad to drive cross-country, you can get pretty much anywhere in 2 days. I'd take greyhound before I'd accept being treated the way they're treating Americans in airports.

[Mulder]

This is exactly why the wife and I are driving to CA this year.1189 miles door to door. It should take us about 21 hrs if I pretend I am Burt Renolds in "Cannonball Run

That sounds like a very nice drive. There should be lots of nice scenery along the way, and even if there isn't, it beats the heck out of anything you see out the window of an aircraft.

If you drive, you get to pick when you eat, when you go to the restroom, when you stretch your legs, what route to take, etc.....

If you fly, someone else makes all these decisions for you, and you'll probably have some 18 year-old illiterate punk try to feel up your wife at the 'security checkpoint'.

[teletech]

To me, this seems like pure and simple perversity masquerading as increased security. I cannot and will not believe that increased security warrants groping ANY womans body or any mans for that matter! This is security run amuck!

[Mulder]

I will not submit to these kind of searches. It's not so bad to drive cross-country, you can get pretty much anywhere in 2 days.

That sums up my attitude in a nutshell. As a Free man, an American, and a Texan, I refuse to submit to it.

Just say "NO".

[cricket]

"Should you have a complaint about the manner in which a search was conducted, contact the security checkpoint supervisor or a manager at that particular security firm"

Wouldn't that now be, at least technically, the Federal Government?

My husband travels all the time; just had his shoes 'reworked' at shoe repair shop. . .some kind of little 'sole or heel metal implants' have been removed. His traveling has been relatively smooth, but with these shoes; some very nasty 'pat down's'; not overly easy for him to be offended; but they finally did it. . .

[Equality 7-2521]

It may be time to reconsider building high speed rail systems. It's physically impossible to hijack a train and crash it into a building. I rode the Amtrack in New England for the first time in... well, actually ever. I've never ridden a train in the US other than those tourist kinds prior to 9/11. It was great, no security checkpoints, no "did you pack your own bags," no hassle.

The airlines climbed into bed with the government years ago and it's been bad news for just about everyone.

[bvw]

Amen. I know I and my family will go to great lengths to avoid these completely unnecessary pat-downs.

Why unnecessary? Because no bitty piece of metal -- blade or gun is going to be enough to hijack 99.997% of flights these days. First the hijacker would have to fight off the passengers, then the crew, then survive radical flight manuvuers, and then get access to the cabin where the pilots will fight them off with axes and stun guns, at the least. Thus, it ain't happening even if patdowns, metal detectors and wands were stopped tommorrow.

Moreover they aren't checking for plastic explosives. To do that they'd have to not only do strip searchs but enemas and sinus x-rays. You just can't prevent everything bad, you have to catch the bad guys, and not be so foolishy tolerant. You have to have, maintain and enforce high levels of social expectations, proper, polite behaviour and mores. Then you can trust the citizens -- and profile the rest.

The ONLY thing this current folly of a ridiculous and perverted "security" screening is doing is busting the entire airline industry.

And setting the US up to put what ever remnant left off it -- and all its debt, live or dead -- on the public dole.

While there have been thousands of layoffs, and thousands of lost jobs with defuncted companies in the industry -- the FAA is hiring. Garvey and her capettes in the Agency are not directly harmed by their lousy decisions -- in the short-term.

And damn, they play for appearances, still. They know nothing but PR. Shades of Clinton-spinicity.

Say this to Garvey and the Garvettes -- There is NO diversity in a bankrupt industry, and there can be NO diverse, best-workplace FAA is there if no industry.

[Utah Girl]

What I'm hoping (but not expecting) is that security will be modeled after El Al's security (the Israeli airline.) Their people are privately trained and partly governmentally supervised. They are trained the psychology of fear and of spotting people who many cause problems. Their searches are very thorough, but in addition to the searches, they ask a ton of questions and then watch the responses. That might be very impractical here. I guess I'm depending upon the fact that the increased security right now will discourage any would-be terrorist from trying anything for now.

[Joee]

This was an excellent post. I think the subject should be aired again and again, until the Air Lines and the Feds get the word, as their jobs will eventually hinge on policy changes. I am going to write my do-nothing Congresstypes, just to waste time, but it will make me feel better anyway, although I'm sure they could care less about the issue,except for "political" donations.