Originally Posted by
janetdoe
About half the time, I am instructed to take a seat while they run ETD on the gloves, and then they come back and pat down the bottom of my feet while I am seated. But I have noticed this occurring less frequently as time goes on.
My experience is exactly the opposite. Generally when I try to walk through a WTMD en route to an opt-out, they stop me and re-direct me to a separate gate - intentionally preventing me from going through the WTMD.
I don't understand the "logic" or purpose of this maneuver. The only thing I can guess is that somehow, they have to designate WTMD = NOS = pat-down = equally valid screening methods, and somehow, letting me walk though the WTMD but still requiring a patdown would expose the fallacy.
Perhaps TSORon could comment?
Quite simply, it's just math. Every half hour, numbers have to be compiled then sent up the chain from there. The AITs count automatically, as do the WTMDs. OTOH, small children/infants, wheelchair-bound passengers and opt-outs have to be counted manually. Management at airports that have opt-outs go through the WTMD on their way to their patdown have to go through the added step of subtracting those opt-outs from the WTMD tally. It's just as simple as that.