Had to fly to a funeral on Thursday. Left from DAY and there was no chance for a SDOO. Usual pat down nonsense. No need to demand clean gloves. No question from the clerk about private screening. Returned yesterday from AUS and was the second person through after the 4am opening. Again no option for SDOO and standard frisk with the clerk changing gloves without being asked. He did offer a private screen and was polite enough to smile when I said; "No, I'm just sorry there aren't more people around to see the US Consititution being violated."
Went through the security for counciurse A around 2:30 today. 2 lanes open, both running MMW except for families with children going through the WTMD. Since I had time and there wasn't anyone else around I held my bag and said I would be opting out. I asked if I could hold onto my things until someone was ready for me. He said my bag must be screened. I said I understand, I will put it through but I'd like to wait until an assist is ready for me. This prompted him to launch into the entire patdown spiel which I politely waited to end until I reiterated my concern. He said " but you have to wait over there" and pointed to the other side of the WTMD. I finally understood the procedure and happily sent my items through the X-ray and waited by the belt.
I explained to a second clerk standing there that at other airports I am required to wait on the other side and the prefer not to send my items through and that I did not know it was set up this way here. He said "well that's why we have this pad" and indicated the pad I was standing on. Thanks. He was nice though and we chatted. He told me they've sold the MMWs to clothing stores so ladies can get scanned and then have custom clothing made for them. I commented that I appreciated their system of allowing me to wait with my items past the WTMD and he said it's because they were the first airport to deal with the system and they've perfected it over 4 years and he admitted he did not know it was different at other places.
My assist was available in less than a minute though and she did a standard patdown. No groin touching. Forgot to ask for new gloves but I cleared anyway.
Programs: I still call it Onepass every now and then. Platinum.
Posts: 408
Horrible experience at IAH Terminal C just now. I even played the name game because I have a coworker with me and didn't want to delay him, but since I refused to push my bags through the x-ray until the patdown was ready, they let me have it anyway.
I moved two steps to see my bags coming through the belt, the groper yelled at me to be still. I told him I was just trying to watch my bags, he said, "if you say another word to me, I'm calling them." (I have no idea who "them" refered to)
He then proceeded to x-ray my briefcase three times, told me that I "need to quit being smart", then did a very thorough (although minimally invasive) grope.
They very clearly didn't like getting any pushback. At all. Although it did seem to all be mostly bluster.
I think I was saved from worse treatment by a guy who came through after me who went BALLISTIC about two laptops that he supposedly lost ("F---! YOU A--HOLES LOST MY STUFF! F---!).
At first, their contempt for him was taken out on me, but then he got progressively more agitated and they called the suit and eventually the cops because he wouldn't stop swearing loudly. By the time they all got there, the groper basically waved me off.
By far, it was the most retaliatory touchy "don't question me" type treatment I've ever gotten, and I really didn't do anything out of the ordinary - especially for me - except insist on seeing my stuff at all times.
Programs: No longer an FF, no status, no joy in Mudville.
Posts: 31,511
Quote:
Originally Posted by cottonmather0
I moved two steps to see my bags coming through the belt, the groper yelled at me to be still. I told him I was just trying to watch my bags, he said, "if you say another word to me, I'm calling them." (I have no idea who "them" refered to)
That's when I would have said, "Please do. And while you're at it, please call the FSD, the GSC and a LEO. I'll wait right over here . . . where I can see my things."
That's when I would have said, "Please do. And while you're at it, please call the FSD, the GSC and a LEO. I'll wait right over here . . . where I can see my things."
Agreed. (It is always safe to agree with PTravel!)
Whenever they threaten to call "someone," I say, "I agree. Please do so now." It is amazing how often they are suddenly not necessary.
I have said before so at the risk of being repetitive, I do not ask if I can move to see my things. I inform them that I am going to, and then I do.
It has not yet kept me from flying. It has ruffled feathers and gotten them royally PO'ed. But, that has not created an additional problem for me. I actually find it quite entertaining.
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Programs: I still call it Onepass every now and then. Platinum.
Posts: 408
Like I said, it was all bluster. They were extremely agitated with the guy who claimed to have lost his laptops - it was being taken out on me to some degree - but even blueshirts are smart enough to recognize the irony of threatening me over keeping an eye on my stuff while another passenger is yelling at the top of his lungs that his stuff was stolen.
One thing that I didn't mention in my post was that the guy running the x-ray machine was constantly mouthing and saying stuff about passengers and the bags he saw. I was never close enough to him to hear what he was saying, but, like I said, all of the trouble started when I refused to push my stuff through until the groper came to get me (smart decision, based on the lost laptop guy). The x-ray guy HATED this and just looked at me and kept shaking his head and muttering, I presume about me holding up his line or being uppity. Had I ever been close enough to speak to him, we probably would have had some words. Very clearly, he viewed all of the passengers with contempt and felt like anyone who resisted the bullying was a troublemaker.
All in all, just nasty nasty bullies at that checkpoint (Terminal C Premier Access) who didn't like being questioned and feel like the plastic badge should make pax treat them like Judge Dredd, but I never once felt like I was going to be detained or unnecessarily delayed, so I never called the bluff and escalated the situation with the cops or the supervisor. That would have added another 10-15 minutes to the experience and my coworker was already patiently waiting on me while I got patted down.
And, if the guy really did lose his laptops, I think he learned a lesson right then and there about going through the scanners and losing sight of his belongings (a downside to the nudiescopes that isn't discussed often enough).
Last edited by cottonmather0; Jun 12, 12 at 7:47 am..
Flying PWM-PHL today. WTMDs tensabarriered off, even though they were operating (I saw a few ahead of me go through). Decided to leave my SIDA badge on this time, and motioned to the WTMD. Said I'd prefer to go through that so you don't have to go through the trouble of groping me. Moat dragon would have none of it, and called for an opt out.
You'd think having cleared the same background checks the TSA does would allow me to go through the WTMD. But no.
Grope was quick and not terribly invasive. Collar check, Waistband, rather high up on the leg. No alarm on the gloves. My groper asked if I'd rather do it in private, and I told him that I want everyone to see how pointless security is when, once through TSA, I could go out onto the tarmac to any aircraft I wanted.
Opted out at SEA at the security area next to the UA check in area. The moat dragon was sending all of the men through the microwave and about 75% of the women and only allowing a few petite women and the airport workers to go through the WTMD.
My wife was ahead of me and opted out and she said fine but she needed to explain something and proceeded to read from a small message attached to the back of her security tag about how this machine would not harm my wife in any way and the pat down might cause her to be delayed, etc. and which would my wife would like to do and my wife answered "I want to opt out!" So she told her to wait in front of the WTMD to which my wife said she can not see her things that had just gone into the baggage scanner and the TSO replied, "Too bad but you have to wait there." My wife replied that the TSA requires passengers to be in control of her belongings and that she wanted to stand where she could see them to which the TSO replied, "The sooner you be quite the sooner I can get you a female assist!" So then I stepped up and she pointed to the microwave toaster and I said, "NO. I will also opt out!" and she proceeded to read me her opt out speech and which would I like. I said, "As I always do, I will opt out and I don't see the point of you wasting time and asking me a second time about what I want to do. I also complained "I can't see my things!" and my wife and I leaned way over the baggage scanner trying to see and I noticed the 2 guys watching the Xray of the luggage chuckling to each other about our trouble making.
Finally got our male and female assists and the TSO asked me if I had ever done this before and I said, yes... 2-3 times a week to which he replied, "Wow, why would put yourself through that when these machines are perfectly safe!" Not being in the mood for a discussion and delay I just replied that it was my right to opt out and I was and could he proceed and that the more he talked the more my blood pressure was going up and that was bad for my heart condition. He said not to worry and did one of the fastest pat downs to date!
...to which he replied, "Wow, why would put yourself through that when these machines are perfectly safe!"
my standard response to that claim is "the harmful effects of radiation are cumulative, so yes, an annual x ray is safer than a frequent flyer who is exposed to radiation weekly, which is still far safer than someone who stands next to a radiating device for 40 hours per week, every week. I'm sure your employer told you that it's safe to stand next to this machine. What did your Dr. tell you about radiation dosage ? "
Just Opted Out T1 LAX. Woman tried to wave me through the BSX, I laughed and said no way. Had a bit of trouble seeing my stuff but nothing major. Patdown was quick. Agent refused to let me declare my Aloe for my sunburn as a medical liquid. Escalated to FSD and got nowhere. :/
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Just Opted Out T1 LAX. Woman tried to wave me through the BSX, I laughed and said no way. Had a bit of trouble seeing my stuff but nothing major. Patdown was quick. Agent refused to let me declare my Aloe for my sunburn as a medical liquid. Escalated to FSD and got nowhere. :/
A plain reading of the TSA's web page would indicate that you should have been permitted to take your aloe through the checkpoint as long as you properly declared it (which you did). What reason did they give for their denial?
Programs: I still call it Onepass every now and then. Platinum.
Posts: 408
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrColdShower
A plain reading of the TSA's web page would indicate that you should have been permitted to take your aloe through the checkpoint as long as you properly declared it (which you did). What reason did they give for their denial?
I wasn't there, but I bet the reason probably was, "because I said so" quickly followed by, "DY...T?"
Programs: I still call it Onepass every now and then. Platinum.
Posts: 408
LAX T7, heading back to BOS tonight. One line open funneling to two belts and a BKSX next to a WTMD.
Got to the front of the line. No one in the scanner. My coworker gets waved through the WTMD. I wait to push my stuff through the belt. TSO's ask me why I'm waiting. I point out that I haven't been directed to a machine yet. They point at the BKSX. I ask why I can't go through the WTMD just like my coworker did, they point at the BKSX say, "only when this thing is backed up." (just like my coworker just now, right? ) So I tell them that I opt out.
A plain reading of the TSA's web page would indicate that you should have been permitted to take your aloe through the checkpoint as long as you properly declared it (which you did). What reason did they give for their denial?
A few.
"Only prescribed items are allowed to be declared." - TSA
"Oh yeah, then how about contact solution?" - Me
"That's the exception." - TSA
"Well, I was told by my doctor that aloe helps sunscreen. Good enough?" - Me
"Nope, we need a written prescription." - TSA
"Again, contact solution is not prescribed. Nor is water if someone delcares it." - Me
"Well, even if we allowed it, we couldn't properly test it to determine it wasn't dangerous." - TSA
"Oh yeah?" *Points out agent behind him testing Contact Solution* "What's he doing then?" - Me
"That only works for liquids, your aloe is more of a gel." - TSA
"That's absurd. Please get the FSD and have him test it." - Me
"I already talked to him and he said no. You can either surrender your aloe or check it." - TSA
"It's a 4 ounce container. Let me empty 2/3 of it, and keep the rest." - Me
"It's more about the size of the container than what's in it." - TSA
"Oh yeah? What about the one liter water bottle in my backpack? If it were really about the size of the container you wouldn't let anything more than 3.4 ounces through, OR sell anything more than 3.4 ounces after the checkpoint." - Me
"Dude, the FSD said no. I said no. You can either give it to me to dispose of or check it." - TSA
At this point, I could see I wasn't getting anywhere, and was fed up with waiting. Since the thing only cost $3 and I had more at home, it wasn't too big of a deal. He did want me to hand the stuff over to him to "dispose of," but I walked to a trash can, opened up the aloe, and squeezed every last bit of it out, because he damn well won't bring it home if he's going to "confiscate it."
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
Posts: 11,344
Quote:
Originally Posted by cottonmather0
They point at the BKSX. I ask why I can't go through the WTMD just like my coworker did, they point at the BKSX say, "only when this thing is backed up."
Funny how that evolved from the original "the nude-o-scopes will only be secondary" policy.
) So I tell them that I opt out. 
