debua1k

Today at SFO, I was selected for secondary, as usual. The female agent wanded me. No alarms sounded. She started to grope me and I told her to stop. She tried to tell me that she had to because of the russian women and I told her that I did not want to be touched in my "private" areas. She called over a supervisor. I told him that I was willing to lift my shirt to show them that there was nothing under it but a bra. He called the TSA and they said "fine". So the female agent and another female agent and I went into a private area and I lifted the front and the back of my shirt and I was free to go.

I would much rather flash than be groped... One tiny step...

whirledtraveler

Okay, everyone. The strategy now is: just say no. Seriously. Let's give it a shot.

bdschobel

I tried exactly the same thing at SEA on the night of October 10. I politely lifted my shirt to show them that I had nothing underneath. A TSA employee named June called the police! Yessirree! Three airport cops showed up a few minutes later and, after talking with June for a bit, accused me of exposing myself. I explained what I did. The cops eventually said, "Obviously, no crime has been committed," and shortly thereafter left the scene. I ended up having a great conversation with the screening manager, Jeff, who is a serious, stand-up guy, a real pleasure to have met. But some of his employees need some "guidance."

Bruce

TSAMGR

You didn't win anything. You used the alternate form of screening which satisfied the process of clearing a passenger.

Everyone is afforded the opportunity is be privately screened.

TSAMGR

And the screeners will say no also. Private screening was used which is an alternate way of clearing a passenger. No new stategy.

TSAMGR

Well you are not suppose to just lift your shirt in the middle of the checkpoint. Private screening is available for the non exhibitionists.

Japhydog

So if private screening without groping is available, why doesn't the TSA tell people? For instance, why didn't the TSA people tell the woman in Denver who didn't want to be groped. Almost every woman I know would choose taking off a shirt to being groped. Informing women about this option would certainly improve the TSA's image.

TSAMGR

It is mandatory for a sign to be posted at the checkpoint. Should read all those signs.

Japhydog

No. There are no signs that say you can refuse to be groped in favor of taking off your shirt. It may say you have the right to a private secondary screening, but there is no indication that one can opt out of a grope.

And I really don't care if the TSA has a bad reputation. Hopefully the bad reputation will lead to its early demise. If you care, as an employee of TSA, maybe you should try to do something about it other than making excuses and unhelpful comments like "there are signs."

TSAMGR

Since you want to go there here we go. You asked and I answered. They do say you have the right to a private screening and you know that. Since you haven't read any of my earlier posting and don't know what I have and am doing within TSA you are just making a pASSenger of yourself.


(I'm sure the moderators will jump all over this one since they let the attacks towards the TSA go and just censor the responses)

FWAAA

How pathetic of you to attack the four individuals who have volunteered their time to help clean up this forum, especially when none of the four have ever shown any obvious interest in this topic (doubt the four had four posts in this forum between them prior to becoming moderators here) and appear to come to the table without any real or apparent bias.

GradGirl

TSAMGR,

Seriously do you think the signs are sufficient for women to understand that if they lift up their shirts in a private area that gets them out of being touched on their breasts by screeners? There was a long thread about this (in TravelBuzz where the FT'ers have less pre-existing bias) in which many many women asked if there was any way to avoid being touched by showing screeners their bras, taking off their bras through their sleeves, and on and on. It didn't seem like any of those women had any idea that there was an alternative that didn't involve being touched. And I can say that I, who am obsessed with this issue beyond reason, had no clue that there was an alternative that didn't involve strangers touching my breasts.

Are you serious that you think women know about this option?

Japhydog

Actually I have read plenty of your postings. And the above is consistent with them. As I said before and say again, there is no sign indicating a passenger's right to refuse pat-down in favor of taking off a shirt.

Your attitude is also consistent with the "I don't give a cr*p what passengers think" that is rampant at the TSA. I gave what I considered to be a good suggestion to help out the TSA. Your answer was "there's a sign. Scr*w the passenger, if they don't read the sign it's their problem." Just by adding a, "you know, if you choose you can take off your shirt in private rather than have me pat you down," the TSA would make many women much much happier. But you don't care because there's a sign.

Guess what, eventually the people you're so callous about will have enough and the politicians will cave and close the TSA down. The tipping point's out there, and with all of the stories about TSA theft and lavish TSA parties and weapons getting through TSA checkpoints, the tipping point is getting much much closer.

I wish you luck in finding another job where you can actively irritate the customer with impunity.

GradGirl

Debua1k,

You are my new hero. I can't believe that I didn't think of this solution, and I am flabbergasted that the TSA isn't distributing this extremely important information to all of the women who are plain disgusted with being pawed by strangers. I'll bet that 80% of women or more would rather flash than have their breasts prodded.

Are there any reporters on the travel beat out there willing to pick this up? Thousands of women every day are having their private parts physically invaded and they don't know they have a better option! Why wasn't this alternative offered to the poor woman who had to drive twelve hundred miles to protect her body?

Screeners who knew about this and didn't tell us, all this time that women have been ranting about how humiliating it is to have our breasts prodded, should be ashamed. Did the TSA hide this information in order to "keep the lines moving" since private screenings take a little longer?

Japhydog

I don't think it has anything to do with efficiency. The TSA just sees no reason to make passengers more comfortable, even if it would accrue to the benefit of the TSA. They aren't in the customer service business.