Originally Posted by Sungold

An earlier poster suggested that if you are subjected to an "enhanced" TSA patdown, you should have it done in public, so everyone can see how ridiculous it is. Maybe it's a female thing, but I disagree. Sometimes I get told that their machine detected something metal in my hip area. They did a preliminary patdown which showed that I didn't have anything metal in my pockets or on my person. Twice I was then told I needed to be examined further, and would I like to go to a private room? I said yes. Believe me when I tell you they feel every part of your body outside of your clothes, very thoroughly. They also felt inside my pants outside of my underwear, and examined the elastic of my panties. That would have been very humiliating if done in public. It was humiliating enough to have it done in the presence of 2 guards.

I also once had my purse and/or carryon bag flagged while going through the x-ray. This was done in public: I was escorted to a large table containing my bags, with a guard on the other side. I was instructed to observe, but I was not allowed to touch the bags or any of their contents. Then the guard started emptying my bags, one item at a time, and examined everything while I watched, presumably so I couldn't accuse him of stealing something. More and more we are sacrificing our privacy and personal space when we fly. I do have to say, though, that I was very glad on those days that I wasn't one of those people who doesn't wear underwear.