Opted out today as always. Pat down uneventful until the explosives detector machine alarmed. Twice. It appeared that it was malfunctioning as they took the machine out of service after this happened.

Then I was asked to go in for a private screening. I was told that the two men would essentially recheck my groin area in this room.

Wasn't interested. I countered that I'd be happy to have them recheck me with a working explosives detector or submit to additional screening in public. Cops were called, reports were filed, I was escorted out.

Any idea what happens next? I do need to travel tomorrow.

Check the blue gloves, straight out of the box. They have been alarming at PDX... out-sourced contaminated supplies at the checkpoint.

Disgusting. Did you tell them "i'm sorry, I don't go into private rooms for a check of my genitals unless i'm with a law enforcement officer or a doctor, and you are neither"....

Insult to injury: left my laptop there. Hope it doesn't go missing.

Good thing just about everything I need is in the cloud.

I've had a great deal of success in the past telling the TSOs that I'm more than happy to submit to any screening they deem necessary, but that any screening they perform on me can and will be performed in a public setting, or a law enforcement officer will have to come over so we can both hear from them exactly why they can't complete my screening in full view of the public. Hasn't failed yet.

That wouldn't have been useful as they do routinely call law enforcement even when there is no violation of law.

From the "scribbles on boarding pass" thread...

Am I now on watch list?

Ah, thanks for that piece of information, that explains why I witnessed a failure 5 times in a row on brand new gloves, from the box, which they swabbed as a control, i.e. before every touching me....

Yep. It's called the 'Deep doo-doo List.'

No worse than a bunch of toddlers and infants in my family and friend circles being systematically hit with the SSSS-type nonsense and being subject to hand swabbing for ETD purposes. Why does the TSA choose to create an opportunity for itself to molest the groin area of children?

Do you really have to ask?

The two times I've had "secondary" screening, the STSO refused to do the screening unless we went into the "back" room. Told LEOs that, he did; and they were ready to escort me from the checkpoint if I wouldn't go into the "back" room.

So, my experiences have been different from your experiences;I prefer yours over mine!

Failed for me. (I have posted on this before.) In June I got into a standoff at PDX with a 3-striper after an ETD alarm on the opt-out gloves, even though the 3-striper acknowledged that the groper had not pre-tested the gloves and that such pre-testing was (apparently) policy at PDX (according to him).

He said private room, I said no, do it in public. He pulled the can't/policy card, I said no. He said had to be private room. Went back and forth a few times on that. I said call a LEO and an airline rep. He said he would not do that but that I could, but then denied me access to my cell phone to make such a call. (Essentially he believed in all seriousness that I could scream out for a LEO or grab a random stranger as a witness; of course then they would have tried to have me arrested for creating a disturbance or something.)

Unfortunately I caved on the private room. Feel bad, but didn't want to leave the wife at home alone with an infant an extra night (on her birthday). Then he insisted on closing the door to the private room. I said no. Same standoff. His only "concession" to me was propping the door open about 3 inches with his foot. There were three blue shirts in the room alone with me. I was extremely uncomfortable and made in known quite forcefully. They claimed that most people don't care and that husbands even routinely let their wives be groped in the private room without even staying themselves to witness.

Still makes me shudder to think about it. I was violated, period, and I failed to do what I had promised myself I would do, which was walk out of the airport like the OP. The only thing that made me feel better was that I lectured the 3-striper (a military vet) for the full 20+ minutes on how our country was going down the tubes to due to TSA and ruining our freedoms and how what TSA is doing is exactly what he and my dad served military careers to prevent and that he needed to spend some time thinking about how he was part of the problem.

I hate TSA. I hate TSOs. With minor apologies to the few (here) who seem decent, but I'm just getting too sick of it. Fire em all. Jail the management.

I thought that with the "rooms" not having cameras, there was always the option to insist on Secondary being performed in public.

Last year @ CLT, I posted that I recevied false +'s which turned out to be a training session (which was being filmed without my knowledge).

When they sent me to the "room" and told me that it was the same as public, I mentioned that there are no cameras in the room, and I wanted it to be public, which they obliged.