I still don't understand why these $7.00/hr (at best) non-English speakers are still working there. At a minimum, if they are truly thre to provide security, they should be fluent English speakers with background and psychological tests. (could you imagine a non-fluent cop giving orders, etc.?)

I'm not crazy about federalization, but I also don't think security, if its to be taken seriously, should be a jobs program for those unable to find employment elsewhere.

i *highly* recommend stuffing a large tube sock into your pants, and snake it down your pant leg. they HAVE to wonder about it...

another thing to do is to act like it feels good as they are wanding and patting you down. it totally freaks em out, and they do it faster. try moaning, and saying, "oh YEAHHH! LOWER! DONT STOP!" they will want nothing more than to get you the heck on that plane. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

homey, thank you for yet another hearty laugh.

bdschoebel, you are right about the american sheeple. actually i am thinking about asking people lining up at the gate to each give me $5. why? because, as the airlines say to justify anything these days, "this is a security related matter."

ROFLMAO

Thanks folks. Don't know which is making me laugh more. The new tactic to moan and groan as they feel you up or collecting $5 because it is a security matter - don't ask.

Oh what have we gotten ourselves into?

I'm starting to see snippets of anecdotes of people who just aren't bothering anymore.

I don't mean people who are afraid to fly, I mean people who are tired of the silly frisking of grandmothers, of the intrusive delays over silliness, of the random hassles and silly drills over what has already been the often frustrating business of air travel. And did I mention the inane silliness?

I know a lawyer guy who needed to go from CLE to Chicago for a case, but after many flights in the past, chose now to drive. He knew his papers would stay with him, and he figured driving the 360 miles would take him just as long and he would be in more control.

My family and I leisure travel enough that my kids have been elite for years. It's just not worth the hassle and indignity for three-day weekend getaways to pass through aiports anymore. Next year we do away with those, and will instead go on an extended summer driving trip.

Life is too short to put up with this crap voluntarily.

Side question- how come those ads on TV telling us our patriotic duty, the ones interspersing Pres Bush with happy crews of travel industry personnel, don't feature the merry band of security screeners? Can't you just see their beaming faces, waving their wands at the camera, joyfully making the conveyor belt go back and forth, gleefully handing you the tippy baskets, proudly holding up in their glove clad hands their lengths of magic tape?

The next time this happens tell that screener that you want to see the airline GSC that is on duty. They are the (generally) english speaking airline employee that is their to monitor the "goings on" at the security check points. If this procedure is improper they will advise the screener that they may not do this. If they agree to it then at least you can blame the airline as well and perhaps get some type of compensation. And finally, if this doesn't work then commence with the moaning and groaning. I think you should also throw a few grinding motions from your pelvic area when they get near you. That will be the quickest you've ever been groped I guarantee!!! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

mrs duxfan and i are flying to chicago this weekend. i bought the tickets before 9/11 and can't force myself to eat em. but we need to be back in chicago on the weekend after new years for a charity fundraiser that we go to every year. we've always flown, but this year we're gonna load up the grand cherokee and drive. and it is a direct result of the new "security". unless i absolutely cannot drive it, it looks like i'm going to be spending more time in the car...

Maybe our message is getting out there...the headline on the front page of the Friday USAToday concerns travelers irritated by patdowns.

But this "take it in stride" mentality of some folks is really puzzling...how much are you willing to take in stride? Random strip searches? Laxatives and enemas to make sure you aren't trying to hide a corkscrew? "We appreciate your patience during this heightened awareness of security...now bend over and bear down."

What they are doing really doesn't make you any safer...

SCRUTINY DOES NOT EQUAL SECURITY..it just costs less.

I think what we frequent travelers are doing is letting the hysteria die down a little. It's fairly useless to try to have rational discussions with a hysterical person because he simply can't think straight.

That's the kind of mood many Americans are in right now, with regards to airport scurity.

Of course, frequent travelers realize how silly many of these new procedures are, but now is not the time to try to repeal it. If we tried, there'd be a hysterical response along the lines of "Don't you care about our airport security after what happened on September 11th!!!"

But these silly procedures will be repealed once common sense returns.

You know, I got into a discussion with someone about that the other day. When I said that it's idiotic to make little old ladies with canes and walkers get wanded, he said, you just don't care about security.

So I calmly asked him, "how many times a year do you fly?" He said maybe three or four times a year.

I said, "Well, think of it this way. I fly more in many months than you do in an entire year. Don't you think I care about my personal safety? And I'm telling you that old ladies with walkers are not a threat."

He had no response to that.

Here's an article in today's USA Today on this very topic.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/acovfri.htm

I have been virtually unable to have an intelligent discussion of this subject with anyone who is NOT a very frequent flyer. When I complain, no matter how good-naturedly, about over-eager security staff going too far, most people look at me like I have three heads (which I do not!). They cannot comprehend why anyone would object to ANY level of security scrutiny, including body-cavity searches conducted in public.

Bruce

One of my female customers (who is extremely attractive) has had three incidents at LAX in the AA terminal since 9/11 with male security people pushing the wands hard against her breasts. Two out of the three times there wasn't even a female agent from the security company present. One time, she protested so loudly that a policeman was called. He did nothing to diffuse the situation as he sided with the security agent.

There should be female security staff present at all checkpoints and a private screening area also. We all know what is really happening and we should all take a stand and protest when an abuse of power by these morons takes place.

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Just for fun recently (with some time to burn before the flight from ATL-FLL) I (male FF) refused to let a female screener pat me down. I had even put my watch in my bag, so it was just the belt buckle that tripped the gate. However, when she asked "May I pat you down?" even as she already started, I replied - "No" - It totally freaked her out, and she asked me again - twice. However, the supervisor did know enough to ask for a male screener to check me out. Nothing unusual about the eventual patdown (no "extra attention"). I glanced at a National Guardsman nearby as I left, and he just grinned - he knew I was jerking them around, and I think he enjoyed it.

[This message has been edited by fcrit (edited 12-14-2001).]

i can verify that there is 'touchy-feely' going on at mco. a female security toucher checked every part of my bod a few weeks ago.

the males have been far less interested in me.

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f