I was flying out of ANC 02/23. The security line was quite long but fortunately the employee/elite/first line was clear. There was only one screening lane so both lines blend right in front of the table. I "blended" in three people behind the table much to the audible dismay of the fourth person. (She was not travelling with the person in front of me.)

I could see the TSA screener in the WTMD watching me with what can only be described as a sour look. Is it because I don't have a business suit that I don't belong in the employee/elite/first line? I was not rude when I took my place, I didn't push my way in or anything of that sort.

When I got to the belt I did the ritual, laptop out, yada yada before being asked. I even took my shoes off because I was wearing cowboy boots (and it was about 45 min prior to departure and I needed extra time to access my bank prior to boarding). I had Mr. AinA with me and we were headed to Seattle for the night (just the two of us) so I was in a great mood.

When I walked through the WTMD, still smiling I might add, the screener just pointed to secondary and said, "Over there." I asked, "Am I being SSSS'd?" "No, I told you OVER THERE." "Am I being secondaried?" I asked. "Step to the side." was her only reply.

By this time I no longer have a friendly smile. It was one of those out of left field ...??? Not to sound paranoid, but I can tell when something is personal and this was definitely personal. Whether it was me moving to the front of the que or my appearance or my good mood??? I don't know.

I understand the theory that some like to have one person in secondary at all times and cycle one in as it clears but the corral was clear the entire time and there were multiple women that went through the WTMD before me.

I asked the person who screened me what was going on and she said I had been selected randomly. I stated if that were the case I would have appreciated being informed of that rather than being ordered around. At that point I requested a supervisor.

To the secondary screeners credit she was professional, but definitely not friendly. I am not expecting an invitation to tea here, but rather to be acknowledged as a fellow person.

What is my beef? My main beef is that I was not treated like a thinking human being. (Not that I have come to expect more from TSA.) My secondary (hehe) beef is that the claim that it was a random screen was dubious at best, it was most likely her own personal pissy match. Try to write THAT one up on a form.

These people do not wear tags with names, rather they are long numbers and I am incapable of memorizing series of numbers. Where's my pen and pencil? Why in my bag, of course!

I should have requested a complaint form at that point and had the supervisor provide me with the WTMD screener's number. It just seems so futile. All of the complaint forms I have filled out in the past appear to have fallen on deaf ears as I have never received a follow up or any indication that they have ever been received. I have mailed them in, phoned them in and left them at the check point.

I guess I am just venting. I know to not expect anything better, but having not been secondaried for a couple months I had forgotten how crappy they treat you. Grrr!

Alison

It was random. It wasn't random. What's the difference?

Random secondaries (which increased dramatically the week of September 11, 2001) and random gate screening are the changes to airport security I find most objectionable.

But others will say "so what?" "Just deal with it." "If you have nothing to hide, what's the problem?" And my personal favorite: "If you knew anything about effective security, you would know (and accept) that our multi-layered approach is the most effective security known to man."

I place this in the same knee-jerk reaction by Norm Mineta that caused him to ban curbside checkin on the same day as the exponential expansion of random secondaries and gate-groping screenings.

I love that one, too, FWAAA. We need fewer people who think like that running our security agencies, we need people who can think outside the box, people who can see the woods for the trees, not people who are so ingrained with a certain mentality that they only look straight ahead and not to either side.

Now this is retaliatory screening! You were sent there for cutting in line! You were sent there for being in a hurry. The name tags should have a first name on them and then the number. You dont really need to know the number. Unfortunately there is nothing that you can do when you are placed in secondary screening under the guise of "continuous." If you pitch a fit, then you get in deeper. You need to point out that TSA has no control or influence over the line in front of the WTMD, on your complaint form.

You would be frightened to hear how some people in the security & counterintelligence fields think. I've heard them talk about how important outliers and "out of the box" thinkers are and how they don't want to encourage "group-think" and want tools to help all this happen, but then those tools are supposed to automatically recognize who people turn to for advice / research and always automatically refer people to the "expert that everyone uses," or otherwise treats things in such a way as to force a single perspective upon everyone. They just don't really "get it."

Alison,

You really have to be observant and watch the moat dragon on the other side of the metal detector. If they obviously zero in on you as you approach the checkpoint in the line, you can bet he/she has selected you for a "random secondary" long before you get the choice to participate or not participate in the shoe fetish.

I've found that I've been "selected" for a "random secondary" based on a couple of criteria:

1. I'm a pretty non-threatening looking 50 year-old guy. I guess they figure I'm on their side and won't put up a fight or get in their faces;

2. I often travel alone. I've observed that people who are obviously traveling alone get picked more often than people get picked out of a group. When I get within line-of-sight of the screeners, I have taken to striking up a casual conversation with the person right in front of or behind me in line, to give the appearance that we're together. Since I've started doing this, the only time I've been sent to groping is when I've chosen not to play the shoe carnival.

I'm surprised you were picked since you were obviously traveling with Mr. AofA.