Hi people, this is my first post. Wanted to seek your comments on a weird and discomfiting experience on Northwest, flying from MSP to LAX on Dec 23rd. Worse things have happened to other people (like the SS Agent), but still I was disturbed by the connotations of the event and how improperly it was handled. Bare facts: flying from ORD to LAX via MSP on NW. Because of CO Silver Elite, was upgraded to FC on both sectors. ORD-MSP goes fine. Problem is at MSP. When the pre-boarding call is made, I proceed to the gate, whereupon I am pulled aside and searched by 3 security personnel. Believing it to be random, I comply good-naturedly. One of them is in plain clothes (call him #1), the other 2 are uniformed (#2 and #3). #1 searches my carry-on. #2 checks my ID against a list he had. #3 proceeds to wand me and pat me down. At some point this exchange takes place between #2 and #1:
#2: He's not on the list.
#1: He's not on the list?
#2: Nope.
#1: We'll keep searching him anyway because the last guy I picked out was on the list.
(You figure that one out. If there is a list, and I'm pulled aside seemingly arbitrarily, the chances of me actually being on the list are slim, so why have a list at all?)
#1 proceeds to search through my personal effects. He is boorish and rough, but I bite my lip in the interest of maintaining cooperation. Then he takes out a plastic bag containing some toiletries I had packed at the last minute. This exchange follows between #1 and myself:
#1: What's this?
Self: Some toiletries.
#1: No, what's THIS?
Self: Shampoo [seeing that he is holding up an elongated object that is my shampoo].
Disbelieving me, he proceeds to rip apart the bag with unusual force, spilling out its contents. I can think of no reason he did that other than to intimidate me. Dropping my docile Asian act, I inform him so, firmly but gently, and point out that I had tied the bag loosely and it would have taken negligible effort to simply open it to check its contents. He looks at me blankly, and shoves the contents and the erstwhile plastic bag back into my carry-on. Now, #3, who had wanded me, patted me down and made me do a hop dance while checking my shoes, refuses to hand over my boarding pass and ID. Instead he tells me officiously that he will be escorting me to the gate (less than 10 feet away). We push our way through a cluster of passengers, and the NW gate agent asks him in a voice loud and shrill, "Is he the one?" To which #3 replies, "He's the one." I board my flight and take my seat in FC, feeling vaguely disturbed and embarrassed and enduring the (understandably) suspicious glares of the passengers boarding after me. As I mulled over this incident, I wondered if I was making too big a deal over it. After all, it was a worthless plastic bag, I didn't miss my flight, and I got my upgrade to FC, right? But I can't help feeling that these security guys were power tripping. There was no need for such boorish and intimidating behavior, no need for conveying innuendos that embarrass me and alarm my fellow travelers. And none of this addresses the mystery of this list and why I am "the one."
I would appreciate your input and comments, esp. if you have had a similar experience. (For your information, I am Chinese, not that race has anything to do with it, but in these times, you can never be too sure.)

Cheers,
PO'BOY