I thought a lock would deter them but no. The color indicator turned to red and I got a note inside. They rifled through my underwear, I guess. No valuables.

Yuck. And embarrassing. Small airport, small community. Feel invaded.

Two questions:

What were they looking for? I had clothes, shoes, a few utensils and some toiletries and food (long trip w/o food and late arrival). I had (possibly still have, too tired to check) a small pen knife. That's about it. What aroused their suspicion, or is it just random?

Second, I'm actually disgusted by this and would like to wash everything but due to the lateness of the hour and exhaustion I don't think this would be possible even tomorrow. Do you think they touched my stuff with the same gloves they rub groins with? I'm not joking, I'm worried...

So sorry this happened to you. I know exactly how you feel, I've been there myself.

Get some sleep, empty the bag out tomorrow, wash everything and try to put it behind you. There's nothing else you can do.

The only thing their gloves (if they were wearing them) touched was themselves and other folks' belongings. Wash your belongings and try to wash the memory out of your mind.

It doesn't matter what they were looking for: curiosity, hoping to steal, random target. It's over.

Guessing, but I would likely say it was some of the food that presented the false positive.

Also, unfortunately, it too often appears that when they see a lock - it's grounds for an immediate search. (/sarc) After all, if you have nothing to hide, why would you lock it? (/end sarc)

I don't know if it really makes a difference - I've switched to using packing cubes. It make it real easy for the screener to lift out the clothes and find my suspicious suntan lotion or books. I feel less like my things have been pawed through.

Unfortunately, it doesn't really. I have had one or more cubes dumped and the cube stuffed back in on top. What they were searching for within my underwear cube is a mystery to me...

Not worth a second's thought. Very clear that TSA has the authority to search and does so on both a random and targeted basis. Whether your bag was just the unlucky random bag or there was anything from a piece of odd-looking something, a piece of clothing folded so that one part was more dense, a good item, a wire/cable or whatever, is of no consequence.

If you are a regular traveler who still checks luggage, you should expect it regularly.

They're looking for the cash they think you may have hidden in your underwear so they can steal it.

Yup. Very clear that many TSOs make no attempt to re-pack a bag properly or to ensure that all contents are returned to the correct bag. I have had strange items (not mine) show up in my bag, as well as losing items that in no way presented a threat (paperback book, one sock, etc.) I have also, like many other travelers, found items returned to my bag with caps off (lotion, pills, toothpaste) as well as baggies opened and thrown bag in the bag.

As for "not worth a second's thought" - I admire your steely ability to shrug off folks randomly pawing through your luggage on a whim. I'm sure you'd feel the same if you came home and a burglar had ransacked your home while looking for something to steal. You wouldn't give it a second thought, because hey, it happens.

No need to point out that it should not be happening. No need to point out that it only happens with a sloppy, unprofessional work force - and the odds are that sloppy, unprofessional workers are less likely to stay focused on their mission.

Other folks' filthy fecal-stained underwear perhaps. No requirement to change gloves when the passenger isn't right there to demand it.

Unless a baggage-screening TSO cares to enlighten us that the SOP requires glove changes between bag-tosses.

You may find the idea of a stranger with questionable hygiene pawing through your clean, intimate clothing to be arousing, professionally interesting, or irrelevant. You have a right to those feelings, however bland or bizarre. You don't have a right to expect others to share them, nor consider yours the only "normal" ones.

I regularly see TSA personnel picking their noses, scratching themselves, or handling dirty surfaces while wearing their gloves. I have never seen one then immediately discard the gloves! So I assume the resulting traces of body fluids, soil etc. are then deposited on any of my belongings they touch.

Some few situations�basic training, prison�allow a person's belongings to be seized and dumped on the floor at any time. Random checks of innocent travelers' property do not legitimately fall into that category.

Going through soft clothing packs�or having underwear unfolded and displayed atop other clothing, as happened to some women leaving PHX in 2007-2008�adds nothing to security, is repugnant to a great many people, and introduces public health risks that are potentially devastating.

Probably the food. There are various food items that they can't tell apart from explosives on their x-ray.

No, no it doesn't. Per SOP, gloves only have to be changed when they're dirty or torn, or changed/cleaned when the ETD alarms.

How dirty is dirty?

Just paw those lady's lingerie all you want, steal them if it suits you. Who are we to object?

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects..."

That's not worth a second's thought. What's not worth a second's thought is the continued existence of your whole, sorry organization.

You said it, �Small airport�. Small airports don�t have EDS machines. Means �Explosives Detection System�. Its much like an x-ray systems, but much more so. It�s designed for use in baggage rooms, they are big, heavy, and expensive. Getting them in and out of a small airport baggage room might require quite a bit of construction assistance, and most concrete floors cant handle the weight (more construction). CAT III and CAT IV airports just don�t have the money for these kinds of things, and therefore must open bags.

Ahh well, life is never what we wish it to be.