sunnyjl

So I got the opt-out groping yesterday, and it was not the opt-out groping I received on numerous occasions previously. This time, I got the female "zip-a-dee-do-dah", and honestly, I did feel violated, and the fact that it was a woman agent made it worse. I thought only men were getting the junk touched, but either I had just been lucky in the past, or this is a change in procedure...

At any rate, I am still in a state of shock. I had not heard about women getting felt up in the nether regions. NOT a happy camper. I am so disgusted with getting felt up by another woman.

Of course, if they could commission Mark Wahlberg to do my pat down, it would be all good

jordanmills

Find an LEO. File a criminal complaint for assault.

sbagdon

What were you wearing? Skirt or pants? Blouse or sweater? Baggy, fit, or tight?

Let's talk about what "zip-a-dee-do-dah" is, to you.

(Amazing, that under any other context, this reply would be on a p0rn site! )

Going by the videos, all contact with the crotch/chest should be palm-salute, up the legs until "resistance", between the breasts and under ("w"). Doesn't look bad on the video, yet they don't show much of the squeezing of the appendages. Did they use a non-palm-salute, go from leg-to-leg and make contact, cup the breasts, etc?

saizai

FWIW, you don't have the right under TSA policy to an *opposite* sex screener. (As you know, everybody is straight, so there's no reason why someone would feel that a same sex screener touching their genitals would be sexually inappropriate.)

If you think you've been assaulted though, you should definitely file formal complaint, as well as tell ACLU, EPIC, your congresscritters, etc. All the contact info you need is in my flyer: http://bit.ly/tsarights

sunnyjl

Well, the agent turned her hand sideways and gave me a "slide" from front to back...kind of like the slide they do under your breasts...I don't know if she thought she was in the crease of my thigh, but she was in the middle, and this was done twice. I'm petite, so this is a narrow area! She did not just go up and down my thighs. She went up to the top of my thigh until she met resistance, and then did the "slide". The more I talk about it, the more it makes me want to go through the nudeoscope instead, which I'm sure is their goal.

The agent doing my pat down was very apologetic. I actually felt sorry for her.

And I was wearing pants, fitted in the torso, but relaxed in the thighs and boot cut in the legs.

So absurd that we should have to even talk about this stuff when speaking about airport security!

MikeMpls

If she were really sorry, she'd quit & find a respectable job. There is no point in feeling sorry for your abuser.

sbagdon

Good news, sounds like you got only the "slightly incorrect pat-down", not the "egregiously incorrect pat-down". You think that was bad, just wait.

Some would prefer you didn't feel sorry. There's threads about how to make their job as (legally) uncomfortable for them as it is for us.

banness

I am amazed at all the fuss surrounding the TSA "pat downs" vs. the "body scans"! The people who are saying that they are being "groped" have obviously never been truly groped in their lives if that is what they consider a "grope"! And the "scannerphobes" worrying that perverts are looking at their bodies, give me a break! Have you ever looked at your own Xray that your doctor ordered? Without the support of undergarments it is pretty eye opening! These TSA agents don't care to oggle our perfect bodies anymore than medical staff does! But we don't consider doctors, nurses, medical assistants or hospital techs perverts! They see naked people everyday! Come on people, the world has changed. We all have a choice, we don't have to fly, we can always take the bus!

PartlySunny

Bolding mine:

You believe that? I've worked in a hospital for years, and they do indeed employ perverts. There are people in every profession right now, that harbor impure thoughts. just FYI.

msimons

Well banness, we're use to people who amazingly have just a few posts, spouting the worn out "fly is a priviledge, not a right".

Well we're watching out for flying, then driving, then walking, then being in your house.

I'm lucky to be in my 50's, having known great-grandparents whom in some cases were old-time cowboys, and I'd would love to see what they would think of our "rights" nowadays.

iowakatie1981

Does anybody know what happens if the victim, excuse me, passenger
involuntarily conveys displeasure with the assualt, excuse me, patdown? Because if somebody does that to me, there is a darn good chance that I am going to jump and scream, which, without my shoes on, will probably also result in my falling on the floor, perhaps on the offender, excuse me, Transportation Security Officer.

Then what? Are they going to arrest me?

This is SO ridiculous.

banness

You are correct that I only have a few posts but I have been flying great distances over the past 26 years! So yes, I do believe that flying is indeed a privilege, not a right!

jbart74

So, in order to complain we must be "truly groped?" Would you care to define that? Also, when I get an x-ray at the doctor's office or the hospital, I know that the people viewing it have spent many years in higher education and are at least an educated group of people. The TSA hires people that have not even graduated from high school. That is offensive to me, especially if they are looking at a naked image of me on a screen. Call me a classist, or an educationist, or whatever you will, but if that jock that beat me up in high school but never graduated can look at me naked because the government says it's okay... it's not okay.

The world has changed and that's why those of us who are offended may continue to opt-out of x-rays. This doesn't solve the problem of the patdowns, but to date I haven't had a negative experience with an opt-out patdown. I'm sure my time will come and I will file suit against everyone involved.

JB

MDtR-Chicago

Am I the only one noticing a general trend between how strongly someone favors AIT/enhanced patdowns and how many exclamation marks that person uses in each forum post or news article comment?

There's something to be explored in that connection...

jbart74

Interesting post... Perhaps we should investigate this.... :-) Nice post.