Another first-hand account of the new patdowns...
 

From today's Washington Post Travel chat (full transcript at http://live.washingtonpost.com/travel-11-01-new.html)

"Q.TSA's "full grope" gets tougher
What do you know about the new 'enhanced patdown' the TSA recently instituted? I am a 66 year old woman with two artificial knees that always set off the airport metal detectors, so I regularly get what I laughingly call 'the full grope' at security every time I fly. However, I flew out of the Manchester, NH, airport last Wednesay, Oct. 27, and it was no laughing matter. During the patdown, the (female) TSA minion jammed both hands, hard, up into my crotch several times while running her hands up and down my legs (that part is normal). It was very startling, and actually almost painful in terms of the force involved (I was wearing slacks at the time; wonder what she would have done if I'd had a skirt on). The very next night on NBC News Brian Williams mentioned that the TSA had started more 'aggressive' patdown procedures, without going into detail. Is this related to the latest terrorism threat that was announced Friday (explosive devices in cargo), or is something else going on?. And is this what I and others will have to get used to going forward? I'm certainly no prude, but this experience was quite unpleasant."


So not only can you look forward to having your genitals touched, but if you are super lucky you might get bruised due to TSA excessive force! :rolleyes:

This is unbelievable! I cannot, for the life of me, imagine a court holding that this kind genital groping is sufficiently "minimally intrusive," as to constitute an administrative search. Thanks for posting this, blondedawn.

Now wait, a couple of our TSA posters here will tell you that she's making it up. Genital gropes don't happen, remember?

Waiting for Eyecue and SATTSO to tell us this person just imagined what happend.

Good article here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/...istance/65390/

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.5.0.138 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

The TSA is banking on our short attention span. None of this will be news in a week. The TSA wins and, once again, we will become compliant sheeple who just can't stay off airplanes.

Being a female I am suprised she didnt have an "accident".

Especially if one needs to attend the rest room.

I would really like to see the face of the TSO if she gets more that she asks for.

This really hurst and is ver insulting and invaisive. This is more than a Pat-down even the enhanced patdown.

To me this is an assult and abuse.

I didn't post the experience I had a few weeks ago which put in my severe pain for several days and almost caused me to miss my flight. That experience I am certain would be called a figment of my imagination, especially since another poster has told me that I am cured and have no physical ailments.

Please share what happened with us.

The lady who experienced this needs to get herself to her gyno to determine if, in fact, she could have been bruised by the clerk. I know a number of older women who bruise very easily - probably older men too.

I am certain that there are medical conditions that would cause younger people to suffer bruises from this kind of "attention" to the genitals.

Not only medical conditions. If TSO hits any bladder that hard . That is going to cause an accident.

Suffice to say that while I tend to read things with a certain level of scepticism, my own recent experiences do make me more likely to believe many of the first hand accounts I have read here. (In my case it did not involve genitals)

I will not make myself an easy target for some of our posters here, so won't share all the details publically. However my opinion has changed drastically from what it was a year ago when it comes to the subject of TSA in general and secondaries in particular.

Older people have thinner, less elastic tissue, and are thus easier to injure. Anyone on aspirin, plavix, coumadin, lovenox, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, etc. can bruise and bleed much more easily, not to mention those with bleeding disorders such as hemophilia. If any of my patients develop an injury due to this "enhanced" patdown, I will be happy to testify in their civil lawsuit and/or class action suit, not to mentional any criminal trial.

This latest TSA idiocy is a revolting violation of human respect and dignity. :mad:

I noticed that the moderator of the column, Andrea Sachs, says she doesn't mind the scans, writing in part:

It would appear that she has not yet realized that what she is actually doing is raising her arms in surrender to terrorists.

Another person wrote:

One of the clerk-participants here says multiple scans don't happen. :rolleyes:

Christopher Elliott, no fan of the TSA, believes that soon the scans will not be optional. :td:

Can we request "happy end" patdowns ? :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btheeIEDIrE