Whole Body Scanners Opt Out Stories [merged]

There are no "must show ID" states. There are certain stop-and-identify states, where police can require you to state your name (and address), but no state requires you to show ID upon demand.

Two experiences in the past two days:

BOS, terminal A (12 Oct): As always, the checkpoint here was a place filled with warmth and happiness and everyone was smiling. Things were moving really slowly; I think they had only two or four bag scanners going (with each pair of lines for a bag scanner feeding to a MMW). After waiting a couple minutes because the guy in front of me didn't have ziploc bags for his LGAs, finally put my stuff into the scanner and said I was opting out. Moved to where I could see my bags, which wasn't in the way but in a slightly awkward location. A TSA clerk told me to move, but I said I wouldn't be able to see my bags and stood still. She then left.

I had left my belt on, as my shorts are rather larger and susceptible to fall off without a belt. A male clerk finally came, and told me to take off my belt. I said I would once I got to the screening area. He told me to take it off again, and I told him the same thing again. He said "ok" and then left, and took a couple minutes to move bins around (I'm assuming as some sort of retaliation). Finally he came back and took me through the gate and to the patdown area. He gave a short spiel (not the whole one); I assumed he was done and asked him to test his gloves for residue prior to the patdown. He then got really angry and said "you don't tell me what to do, I tell you what to do". I pointed out that I had asked him to do something, not told him. He repeated myself, and I repeated myself. He finally swabbed his gloves and when the test came back negative asked me if I was happy.

The patdown was fairly quick. Not the most thorough I've had, but not the quickest either. After he swabbed his gloves again, his mood instantly changed and said with a pretty relaxed tone that "you're good to go". I was really surprised, to say the least, given how upset he had been when I asked him to swab his gloves originally.

BZN (13 Oct): Checkpoint was dead. Just my mom and I. The WTMD was roped off, with only the MMW as an option. After putting all my stuff through I said I was opting out, and the clerk called for a male assist which came almost instantly. Went through the script quickly, then did the patdown. He definitely got up between my legs--I keep them as close together as they let me, and he got his hands up a ways. Otherwise, was fairly quick but thorough. Had the pleasure of explaining to my mom why I don't go through the machines.

Has Logan already swapped out the backscatters for MMWs? I knew they were planning on it, but I didn't know the timeline.

I've heard of several airports doing this. Clever ploy to get the sheeple to accept the naked scanners. No radiation here, sir- come on in!

I'm not sure why my rotator cuff injury keeps coming back to haunt me every time I fly. I also cant explain why it feels so much better when i'm at a pre-check airport. That should save my health insurance company a few dollars.

Yep, by my count the following airports have at least started the process of swapping MMW for BKSX:

LIH, LGA, BOS, ORD, MCO, LAX, JFK

With the removed BKSX destined for smaller, currently NOS-less airports near you...

You notice the more people suffering from shoulder injuries on this forum has resulted in less NoS Opt Out tales?

I know I personally will never suffer from a phantom shoulder injury. First of all, I believe in karma and would not lie about that stuff to anyone, even a TSA clerk. Secondly, I want to make them work, and thrid, I want public awareness as to how safe the scanners are and how silly security theater really is. My stories will continue popping up in this thread, that's for sure!

Believe me, when they don't follow the rules about medical opt-outs, they are made to work much harder than any grope down.

Impressive. You're lucky that you made it through without the karate chop.

Mike

Care to elaborate?

I think he's saying that if they dither or make stuff up, or otherwise not follow the proper protocol, he raises a stink about it and "makes them work" in response.

I heard some good news today...I don't know if this is a trend or not but a good friend of mine flew out of JAX today. This individual said that while at the checkpoint, more people were opting out than were agreeing to go through the NOS. Is anyone else seeing an increase in opt outs?

I'm used to be the only opt-out but i have been hearing "Male Assist" and "Female Assist" more often