"Look me in the eye and unzip your pants"

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My brother went with the Atlanta Ski Club to Miami this past weekend. He took only a backpack and fanny pack. After clearing security in ATL, he was pulled out of line. The made him remove his shoes, took his ticket out of the fanny pack and checked the computer, went through his wallet, then the security guy said, "Look me in the eye and unzip your pants." They proceeded to pull them away from his body, in full view of everyone in line, and wand him. He was also pulled in Miami. They looked at his passport (he took it with him because that picture shows him without a beard)and the guy made a few remarks about how much he travels. They didn't look in the backpack either time. He wanted to ask if there was a problem, but they had such an attitude he said nothing. He was surprised to be "randomly chosen" on both flights, since 24 other people were ticketed by the same travel agency and his FF# was printed on his ticket. Are the security people being over zealous or is there some method to their madness? It really bothers me we have no recourse, and questioning then only brings on " a more thorough security screening." My brother is a very low key, average looking guy who fortunately has a much longer fuse than his sister.
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Unzip your pants???? In the regular line?? You mean they didn't take him to a private room for this little expose? Unreal.... Isn't asking a guy to unzip his pants while looking elsewhere, well, uh - dangerous?
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My problem seems to be that whenever they ask me to unzip my pants, they never finish up and "wand" me.

More seriously, the closest I can think of was going through a second security check in DBX, where my girlfriend insisted that she (and the other women in line) were actually felt up behind the curtain after they separated the men and women.
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by flowerchild:
then the security guy said, "Look me in the eye and unzip your pants." They proceeded to pull them away from his body, in full view of everyone in line, and wand him. </font>
Wow, usually I at least make them buy me dinner first!

Seriously, though -- there is no way that any pants-action (whether unzipping or removing) is supposed to be done out in public. NO WAY WHATSOEVER.

The airport, the FAA, the security company would all disallow this purely on the basis that -- god forbid he's going commando -- you've got a major lawsuit on your hands from not only him, but the other passengers as well who are involuntarily witnessing his "debriefing".

And what the heck is "look me in the eye" all about? Is the security guy returning the gaze or actually checking the pants? It seems it would be tough to find contraband if you're focusing on the passenger's baby blues rather than the suspicious area.

I honestly would have burst out laughing if someone had said that to me in any context. I find it hard to believe he was following the proper script for inspection procedures...
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If anyone asked me to unzip my pants, that would be a great time to let out some gas....
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I wish I could find this funny...and I'm the first to say that airport security in the USA has been a international joke for years - now we seem to be making worse. Yesterday traveling from denver, I made sure my pockets were empty, my watch off....and was still pulled out of line (my ticket indicated Exp. Plat - so they know I travel - a lot). after lifting my shoes, and patting me down in an all to personal manner (I'm often in Europe, where they have years of experience, and never had this kind of treatment) was told to undo my Belt. I wasn't even beeping at all with the wand. If the airlines want to get the leasure travelers back in the air, the procedures have to make common sense - and treating everyone who walks through as a smuggler of nail clippers is not the way to do it.

OK, on the lighter side, after the 'search' I had what was either a Howard Stern moment, or a Saturday Night Live thought.... a group of people lined up in their best summer attire of men's speedos(I've cleaned it up) and women in SI swim suit editions.... the lines would move faster.
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This is a disgrace!!! Are we so willing to simply discard the 4th Amendment over this incident?!? What's next, required reading of "Mein Kampf"?

"You have been randomly chosen for a strip-search." How in the world can we the American people tolerate this?!?

------------------
"Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither." - Ben Franklin
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by flowerchild:
...then the security guy said, "Look me in the eye and unzip your pants." ...his FF# was printed on his ticket. </font>
Are you sure he didn't ask to unbuckle or remove his belt? This is a common request.

FYI, Mohammed Atta had an American ff #.
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I've always wanted to legally show off my stuff in public.
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Actually, I suspect the American people will not tolerate it -- or the incredibly long lines at times -- and, as a result, passenger loads will continue to drop. When the Federal Government has to bail out the airlines yet again, maybe someone will draw the connection.

What really amazes me is that this kind of treatment makes some passengers -- masochists, obviously -- feel better! On two separate occasions, I saw passengers demand to be searched. What, didn't they know if they were terrorists? Just amazing.

Bruce
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The other side of this.

Last week, after entering the jetway at DAL on WN, I was pulled aside and wanded. Sure enough, my metal belt buckle beeps. I was asked to undo my belt and did. They rewanded, and it beeped again. "Oh well, I guess it's just your zipper, go ahead". Kind of made me wonder, what if I did have something dangerous stashed there (metallic, I mean ).

[This message has been edited by swag (edited 10-30-2001).]

[This message has been edited by swag (edited 10-30-2001).]
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by flowerchild:
My brother went with the Atlanta Ski Club to Miami this past weekend. </font>
I've been wondering about this since the beginning ...
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My brother went with the Atlanta Ski Club to Miami this past weekend. He took only a backpack and fanny pack.

Pant? What pants?

[This message has been edited by VicOsaki (edited 10-30-2001).]
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first, they want to unhook your underwire bra, now, unzip your pants, what is going on here?

hey the only person that could order hubby to upzip his pants is me! (okay, his doctor too, but in my presence )

so while ordering those plastic wire bras for myself, should I also start looking for kilts or sarongs for hubby?

baffled belle
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I got felt up by TUS security on Sunday coming home from the STIFFS dinner.

The belt clip for my ID badge was in my hand and set of the security alarm. They wanded me down twice and even though the only time the wand beeped was when it passed the badge IN MY HAND... they then hand patted all the way down my back, spending extra time at my bra snaps, up the insides of my legs, then poked my chest to find whatever they thought I might be stashing in my cleavage.
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