Does secondary automatically include hand-search of bags?
I have been fortunate enough to not being subject to secondary/patdown/HHMD in a while, but the issues involving shoes and secondary brings up a question.
What happens to my bag if I get pulled for secondary when going though the WTMD? Is my carry-on baggage automatically going to be hand-searched (even if the x-ray showed nothing)?
Is it any different if I get pulled for secondary under each of these scenarios:
1. Wear shoes, no alarm (whether it be retaliatory or shoe thickness)
2. Wear shoes, alarm
3. No shoes, alarm
Because of my job (US Govt), when I travel for work, I carry aviation safety/security-related documents, notes, reports, airplane drawings/diagrams, etc., and I'd just as soon not have a TSA screener see them and possibly perceive me as some sort of threat (being non-white with a south-asian/mideast-sounding name doesn't help, either) and then have to go though extra explanations/questions.
To minimize the chance of having my bags opened, I generally succumb to whatever shoe carnival nonsense is in place at a given airport, but I'm getting pretty tired of it. So if secondary involves just me, I may assert my rights more, endure the occasional 'full treatment' and file complaints, but if it means my bags will get opened every time too, I'll (sadly) have to continue behaving like the sheeple.