One could argue that those black widows sold their bodies in the ultimate way

I thought I read somewhere that you did not have to take off a suit jacket if your blouse did not have sleeves. So, the week of February 7th, I go through security at IAH Terminal B. When asked to take my jacket off, I pulled the top of it aside and showed that the blouse underneath was sleeveless, simultaneously saying, "I'm sleeveless." I was allowed to walk through the metal detector with my jacket on.

The week of February 14th, I go through security at IAH Terminal A and do the same thing. I was taken to secondary screening by two TSA screeners who were confused about the procedures. The first one told me to pick up my bags and take them with me, at which point the second one rushed up and said that I couldn't touch my bags. There was some back and forth between the two - I think the first screener assumed that I could touch my bags because the only thing that needed to be checked was under my jacket, but the other screener said no.

BTW, neither of my suit jackets were bulky or showed any bulges (I wear the suit jackets to hide the "natural" bulges, which is why I don't like taking the jackets off at the checkpoint ).

Guess I'm going to have to go back to wearing suit jackets that can button all the way up to look as if there is no blouse underneath, then unbutton the top buttons after I get through security.

As a frequent flyer, I have not forgotten the horror of 09/11 and do not oppose measures that truly assist with security. However, I don't think that having a person remove his or her suit jacket is a deterrent to terrorism (and if it were, it obviously was not being consistently applied, even at the same airport). It strikes me as odd to have to plan my wardrobe according to the ever-changing TSA rules.

The first screener was wrong, the passenger is not allowed to touch their belongings until cleared in secondary, however you may request that the screener bring your things so they will not be out of your sight. Hope that helps.

No one is perfect. No matter how specific you make rules and regulations people will see them how they want to. It's not a dumb rule to ask that Security be able to see the true you.

There are more things then just bombs that a person can strap to themselfs that are going to slow down the screening of passangers. Here is a easy one. I have seen several times where someone was asked to remove a loose fitting garmet.

You take you "jacket", "hoody", etc off guess what the screener can now see that you forgot to take your cell phone off your belt. YES, cell phones have metal. You forgot to take that can of chew out of your back pocket (Copenhagen has a metal bottom on it), you have one of those stupid metal belts on, or one of a hundred things that you would totaly have forgoten that would have sent you into secondary screening.

More then just safety, it is a great tool to get people through faster. I love the rule, and would rather take something off, be done, and on the plane while someone else is still arguing or asking for a supervisor.

It's a stupid, meaningless rule. I could just as easily hide my bomb in my pants as underneath my jacket. Should everyone have to take off their pants? Also, if one isn't wearing anything underneath the jacket one doesn't have to take it off. Do terrorists always wear something underneath their jackets?

If a jacket does not come off, the passenger is supposed to be sent to secondary as well as a person wearing other articles of clothing so big and bulky as to obscure the body.

If you have a unusual shap under you pants... then yes you will take them off or not fly. (clean or dirty)

Well, if your a terrorist thats not "wearing" anything under your jacket I guess I dont have to worry about you taking your jacket off now do I?

How will you know if I have some C4 taped to my thigh and I'm wearing slightly baggy pants?

In regards to the second sentence, above, it makes no sense whatever.

Thank you, omascreener for clarifying the policy - that actually kind of makes sense under the assumption that taking off the jacket is necessary. If someone doesn't want to take off his or her jacket and if that person were to have something hidden underneath that is not detected by the metal detectors, then it makes sense that you don't want that person touching his or her carry-ons because that person might be able to move the offending item to the carry-on when moving to secondary screening.

I don't have a problem with you having to carry out a rule with which I disagree, and I would appreciate additional information on the "sleeveless" rule.

I agree with Japhydog (and may be stretching his argument a bit, so please forgive the license, Japhydog) that it would be easier for a young person wearing baggy pants (has the TSA seen how baggy the pants are these days?) to take something inappropriate onboard than for a professional woman in a tailored suit.

Update this morning - I went through IAH Terminal B and did not even try the sleeveless thing. I just buttoned the jacket of my suit coat and answered yes when asked (twice) whether this was my outer layer of clothing. I had on a sleeveless "shell" (all the women who read this know what it is) underneath that I would never wear in public without a jacket.

I only have one suit that buttons all the way up - guess I'm going to have to get another one, so I can feel comfortable on the flight out and the flight back in.

I'm going to relate an incident I had last summer at the checkpoint. I'm also going to state that this isn't justification for secondary or not. Anyway I was in the wanding position at the checkpoint and at the time we were under pressure for always having someone being wanded. I selected a young man about 19 years old only for the sole reason he had baggy clothes on. When he came through the walk-through he did not alarm. I started the wanding procedure with him setting down and wanded his feet and lower legs with no alarm. However when I was doing the outline his pants were so baggy I had to have him pull them up and I also had touch the material to get close enough according to our SOP well low and behold when I got down to his ankles the wand hit something. I patted down the area and felt something taped to his leg. I called the supervisor and we took him into the private screening room and found that he had to plastic bottles of wine taped to his leg. And yes we let him keep them. Just thought I would relate the story.

Thanks for being willing to share your experiences with us. I didn't know that wine even came in plastic bottles and don't know why he would tape those to his legs instead of stowing them in his checked or carry-on luggage, but your story made me laugh!

Even though I disagree with the jacket thing, I have to say that there are many more good TSA agents than bad. Most of them have a really good sense of humor about the same joke they have heard 20,000 (random number) times before, and many of them make jokes with the people in line. I've also been chosen for additional screening several times and the people doing the screening were professional and did not make me feel humiliated in any way (even during the breast screening).

The only one that ticked me off was the person reviewing boarding passes (after we had already shown our ID's and boarding passes in the security line) at Charlotte. The week before, there were two lanes, so in the week that I'm discussing, I started into the second lane, then realized that this was not an open lane (I think her not looking at that lane cued me to that, because it wasn't blocked off). I started back, but the people behind me that went in the first lane were already way ahead, so I just stayed in the second lane, The person reviewing the boarding passes scolded me for going to the other lane, I apologized profusely and she told me that I was going to get a secondary screening for not following the rules. I got the yellow card and went through the secondary screening, but I felt that she was overstepping her authority by punishing me for something I didn't even know was wrong.

Maybe it's too early in the a.m. after a long night, but I'm not following you here, FemaleFlyer, were the "rules" that you were not following posted anywhere or had you been verbally told the "rules" and chose to ignore them, or were they once again, some capricious rules that some screener just made up on the spot seconds before you were sent to secondary?

What gets me the most upset about TSA front-line people, is their failure to follow their agency's own written policy, especially regarding shoes. Part of their training should be learning to ID at a glance shoes that have less than a 1" heel/sole. Please don't tell me it's a "judgment" call - there should be no judgment about it. During training they should be drilled over and over and over again until they can just look at your shoes and know they don't have to be removed.

For heaven sakes, any good cook can measure exactly dry ingredients in the palm of the hand or know exactly when a cup of fluid has been poured from a bottle.

Surely rent-a-cops can be trained to identify 1" heels - and if they can't, they should be failed and not allowed to be on the lines.

There is no "sleeveless" rule. If you are wearing a jacket with either nothing on underneath, (or the appearance of such), or somthing like a shell or cami that you prefer to not expose, you can proceed through wearing your jacket. However, if you choose to wear your jacket, you are to be secondary screened and the handwander will be able to determine if your torso can be cleared by patting you through your jacket or if you'll need to remove your jacket in a private screening. The same goes for bulky sweaters and hoodies.

The baggy clothing rule is to be in effect for below the waist as well. If a person proceeds through wearing baggy pants, they are to be referred to secondary for wanding and a possible pat down.

If this works for you, fantastic! But just bear in mind that anyone choosing to wear a jacket is supposed to be sent to secondary screening.

Supposed Synonyms for "supposed": made-up, imaginary, invented.

All wonderful terms for the way many screeners actually seem to apply their alleged SOPs.

Hi FemaleFlyer,

One thing you might try instead of wearing a suit jacket that buttons all the way up: wear gym clothes or something similarly casual. I've noticed that I get selected for secondary nearly every time I'm fashionably dressed, but if I look like a slob I never get picked. I actually have an "airport uniform" as ridiculous as that is: yoga pants, sports bra, white top, keds-ish cheapo payless shoes.

I don't presume to know why dressed-up women get picked more frequently, but I like to avoid secondary at all costs, and if slobbishness gets me there, fine. It's much the same as in college, when I used to get viciously catcalled every time I walked along a certain street: I started to wear out-of-style eyeglass frames and shapeless slovenly clothes and the problem stopped.