I thought I read somewhere that you did not have to take off a suit jacket if your blouse did not have sleeves. So, the week of February 7th, I go through security at IAH Terminal B. When asked to take my jacket off, I pulled the top of it aside and showed that the blouse underneath was sleeveless, simultaneously saying, "I'm sleeveless." I was allowed to walk through the metal detector with my jacket on.

The week of February 14th, I go through security at IAH Terminal A and do the same thing. I was taken to secondary screening by two TSA screeners who were confused about the procedures. The first one told me to pick up my bags and take them with me, at which point the second one rushed up and said that I couldn't touch my bags. There was some back and forth between the two - I think the first screener assumed that I could touch my bags because the only thing that needed to be checked was under my jacket, but the other screener said no.

BTW, neither of my suit jackets were bulky or showed any bulges (I wear the suit jackets to hide the "natural" bulges, which is why I don't like taking the jackets off at the checkpoint ).

Guess I'm going to have to go back to wearing suit jackets that can button all the way up to look as if there is no blouse underneath, then unbutton the top buttons after I get through security.

As a frequent flyer, I have not forgotten the horror of 09/11 and do not oppose measures that truly assist with security. However, I don't think that having a person remove his or her suit jacket is a deterrent to terrorism (and if it were, it obviously was not being consistently applied, even at the same airport). It strikes me as odd to have to plan my wardrobe according to the ever-changing TSA rules.