jadenus

You look like you won't give them any problems. They select not based on any behavioral cues, but based on who will be the easiest.

average_passenger

Maybe mickeymey should wear a t-shirt that says "Former Child Molestation Victim - Don't Suffer in Silence, It's Not Your Fault"? Maybe the shirt could have a help hotline number and website to make it more legitimate? There's no law against wearing a shirt that supports a cause.

prushing

I didn't get selected for NoS this week in IND. I can't believe my streak has ended. I was 10+ weeks in a row. One of the normal screeners saw me when I was leaving the checkpoint and asked how I got through. I replied that I couldn't believe my 2.5 month streak ended.

top987

I have flown out of PIT several times in past two months and have been "randomly" selected each and every time. I've opted out each time and received the standard manual enhanced search. Each time the TSO put on new gloves and each time did the search without "groping" or otherwise exceeding my limits of personal modesty. That's not to say I agree the procedure is in excess of where I draw the line on my personal civil liberty. But I was not subjected to any of the stuff others have been. Of all of my trips I have not been selected on the return. The airports include PHX, RSW, CLT and SFO.

Caradoc

The TSA certainly likes to play with camera equipment... as long as it isn't pointed at them.

Every time I departed ATL, it was like talking to a four-year-old: "No, don't play with that. It's expensive, and touching the glass with your grubby fingers isn't good for it. No, really, don't play with that."

MDtR-Chicago

Don't worry, whomever screwed up by letting you through will be thoroughly retrained, out of an abundance of caution.

LV702

Not an opt out story but more of a ... story.

Friday night DFW Term C. WTMD and NoS side by side. The clerks had to direct sheep from the NOS line TO the WTMD line. Sheeple were opting out of the WTMD in favor of the NOS.

JakiChan

That would worry me. I will be taking a trip this month for the first time since I started buying crack Canon L lenses.

"Before you pick that up you should know that it's heavy, fragile, and cost $2500. You should be VERY careful." Hopefully it won't be necessary.

bdschobel

If you believe that instruction will achieve the desired results, I'd think again. First of all, they'll say, "I don't care if it cost a million dollars; it needs to be screened." (Actually, they have a point about that.) And the fact that you must have had $2500 at one time in your life, unlike most of them, just breeds resentment.

I'd try a different approach. How about: "That camera lens is very delicate and I need it on this trip. If you break it, I won't be able to get another one." That might actually work. Might.

Bruce

JakiChan

Are the TSOs protected from negligence lawsuits? I.e. if they drop your stuff, right in front of you, and break it are they fully immune from the consequences?

"I'll need your information for my insurance company, and they will probably need to speak with you."

Global_Hi_Flyer

The action would be against the agency. No personal accountability. The only exception MIGHT be if you can show that they are violating policy, which would be exceedingly difficult as the claim will be that the policy is SSI. That's one reason that the TSA hides policies behind SSI - to avoid accountability.

janetdoe

But roughly speaking, if 3% of screening encounters are randomly selected, and I go through the screening 10 times, then there is a (0.97)^10 = 73% chance that I will not be selected for even one of those encounters. There is a 22.8% chance that I will be selected for exactly one screening. The odds of being selected for 10 screenings is (0.03)^10 = 0.00000000000006 %.

There is definitely something non-random going on here. While I suspect the TSA's statistics are misleading, I wonder if the 'selected 10 for 10" guys are using a different definition of selection.

I think TSA's 3% definition is for situations where "we're only running the WTMD in this line, but every 30 or so people, we pick one person to go through the NoS or get an extra special pat-down." I have only had this happen to me once in the past year: the NoS was roped off, I watched a couple of dozen people go through the WTMD, and then I was selected to go through the NoS. This probably corresponds to about 1 in 30 trips for me, so I could buy a 3% statistic for that. I still think there is a biased selection by a TSO and this cannot be considered random.

The situation where two X-ray belts are feeding into one area that has both WTMD and NoS, and TSOs gesture at some people to go into one line or the other with no apparent logic - I think that is not considered random selection by the TSA, that's just 'sheeple direction'. Although it seems more truly random to me.

YMMV.

sheneh

I'm fairly certain the 3% figure is full body patdowns over total screenings. Selection for scanner would be higher.

JakiChan

Hiding the policy wouldn't do anything. If I *see* a TSO take something out of my bag and drop it, breaking it, how are they not liable? What would stop me from taking the TSO to small claims court?

(I wouldn't bother, but my insurance company might. When a tree fell on my car I made sure they knew it had been held up by cables installed by the city arborist. That made the city liable and they got their money back they spent to fix my car.)

bdschobel

Federal employees have essentially absolute immunity as individuals for incidents that occur in the course of their duties. You may be able to sue the Federal government, under the Federal Tort Claims Act, but I wouldn't count on winning. Really, you're wasting your time with this whole approach. If a TSA employee breaks something, you can file an insurance claim or just forget about it. The chances of getting payment from the government are slim -- though not quite zero.

Bruce