petaluma1

If I were a first-time flyer and got sexually assaulted by TSA, I would hope that said flight would be my first and last. As discussed in another thread, TSA does seem to be getting even more aggressive with passengers. To what end escapes me, however.

<deleted>

TWA884

This is the third time that we have had to request that politics be kept out of this thread.

Additional posts have been edited or deleted.

Please consider this to be your one and only warning. Any member who injects politics into this thread from this point on will have their posting privileges suspended for a minimum of seven days.

Thank you for understanding.

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

chollie

I don't think it's just that people weigh in on the subject when they never fly.

There are also people who post, here and elsewhere, that claims of unprofessional TSA behavior are exaggerated, fabricated or entirely the fault of the pax.

There are people, often folks who brag they've flown weekly for years, who claim to have never experienced or even witnessed unprofessional TSA behavior - because they behaved themselves, didn't show attitude, didn't show up with anything 'weird' - like breast milk, braces, medicines or other medical needs, prosthetics, wheel chairs, granola bars, Harry Potter wands, books, etc.

Because pax only show up with these things just to annoy TSOs, when they could perfectly well Fedex everything to their destination.

Often, they don't even believe posted videos, because they claim filming is done solely to provoke TSA and totally deserves retaliation.

A family member quit flying because of a bad experience at SAT. She committed the crime of traveling after a crippling stroke that, among other things, limited not only her vision, but her ability to turn her head. She was in a wheelchair, of course. TSA pulled her aside for a grope. It was their first time travelling post NoS. They wouldn't let her husband near her. She was terrified, crying, asking what she had done wrong, if she was being arrested, where was her husband? They deliberately kept him out of her line of sight and forbid him to even talk to her so he could reassure her that he was there and things would be OK.

Whenever I read a post by someone acting like TSA is always smooth sailing if you just smile and follow the rules and don't go looking for trouble, I think of my family member and I want to vomit.

petaluma1

I would love to see a psychological study of TSA screeners and what drives them to work for the agency. I imagine it would be quite revealing.

leungy18

While small potatoes like us can't get anything done -- I'm surprised that the airlines aren't lobbying Congress to get them to improve TSA standards. If the US3 cared as much about their customers as they do about stamping out competition from the ME3, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

RadioGirl

They care a lot about their customers. They care about keeping them.

Unfortunately, for far too many of their customers, these aggressive pat downs only reinforce the fear of the scawy bwown men who are actively trying to get on every single US3 flight every day. Obviously, their diabolical plots are only foiled by the invasive patdowns and other brave actions of the noble TSA officers.

If a side-effect of this fear of scawy bwown men is that fewer Americans want to fly through DXB, AUH or DOH, well, I'm sure that's just a cincidence.

leungy18

Fair enough. Remembering what Richard Anderson, then-Delta CEO, said about 9/11 and the Gulf airlines...

But on the other side of the argument, Americans who often travel internationally tend to be...well, more refined than Americans who don't. I've never encountered a stereotypical bigot in NRT or HKG or DXB. This is an interesting article.

I'm just gonna put it this way: statistically, an irrational, less-educated person who would avoid ME3 just because "bwown people are scary" probably doesn't have much disposable income to travel abroad very often.

LtKernelPanic

Well I leave for this trip in a few hours and I still don't know what I'll do if I get sent to the scanner. I guess going through the scanner is like the lesser of two evils but that's like having to choose between getting kicked in the shin or in the junk. Here's hoping I get the "Pre-Lite" treatment tomorrow but since I'll be taking my quadcopter with me who knows that'll happen. I may end up walking funny down the jetway when they're done.

petaluma1

I found this desciption of a police in-take pat down. Perfectly describes a TSA "pat down".

Notice that, unlike the TSA, whoever wrote this knew the difference between the groin and a man's genitals.

Although the article is about "stop and frisk", it speaks directly to a TSA "pat down":

The goals of the police and of the TSA are the same: assertion of dominance, power & control.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...nt-paul-butler

petaluma1

http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigat...440830803.html

Boggie Dog

Must have been one of TSA's highly trained, professional screeners.

chollie

I hope they don't let him near young boys.

Airrage

Luckily I've not been TSA raped.... yet. Had a couple of pat downs that made me somewhat uneasy but luckily they left my junk alone. Have witnessed some pat downs of other people though that I thought was completely out of line.

But, i still cannot figure out why I travel with the same computer bag week in and week out. Most times it goes through the x-ray just fine. But occasionally it has to be pulled aside and completely rifled through. Really weird. I pack the same stuff, the same way every single trip.

petaluma1

Quotas being met?

petaluma1

I call this as a blatant lie. If it's not, why aren't these "great finds" being reported at the blog?

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/pol...168840732.html

This is another victim of the TSA who is being used by the agency to promote their agenda.