I just loved this sign and thought you would too.
Now for the soap box.
So....as I leave here to go to Hawaii, I go through the scanner.....after I am out of the scanner the lady comes up to me and says she is going to have to pad me down.
I said is it because of the decorative buckle on the back of my pants. She never responded but went about frisking me.
So later the next day (took us that long to get to our hotel in Kauai) I kept thinking...why did they frisk me? Why?
I am an extremely modest person and have always felt my body was a temple so it really bothered me.
Then it hit me....must have been the underwire I was wearing.
Okay then....I will solve that.....no more underwire when going through scanner.
Fast forward to many days later when we were leaving Kauai to go to Oahu.
I go through the scanner and once again....the lady says....I am going to have to pad you down (easy way for saying I am going to feel you up).
I said....I was padded down last time but I am not wearing an underwire, I do have a decorative buckle on my blue jeans.
She said, that is not the problem.....you are packed in there awfully tight. I said? Packed or stacked?
She asked if I was wearing a girdle...and I said no (should I have been).
She proceeds to feel me up and this time I am real mad but held my tongue.
My husband was the lucky one that got to hear me rant for a half hour until I calmed down.
I told him I should have said...oh wait... you must have seen the cheese and crackers I had stashed in there for a later snack.
Needless to say my husband and I have had plenty to laugh at with all of the jokes we have been making about this (at my expense).
She also took a pad and wiped my hands to see if I had been bomb making. I laugh because I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer and to me, that would be way out of my league.
Anyways.....it is just frustrating because they are busy harassing me and letting other able bodies go on. Where is the justice in this?
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At the airport after everyone has sat down, this guy comes in with gloves and says he has to by law pad down the men. He looks around and he only chose the older men...what is up with that. I tell my husband I think they chose the older people because we cause least resistance and are less scarey for them...so if they have to pat someone down they should just chose someone that is less intimidating. What ya think? If that is the case, why do it?
25 comments:
Love the sign! I would be very unhappy about being frisked. I don't even like people to touch me on the hand or arm. I think you handled it like a lady. Couldn't you tell them you had an FBI escort?
There is no rhyme or reason to the TSA checks. I've also had my underwire beep some scanners but not at other ones. Makes no sense! It's a pain to fly these days...
The weather sign is adorable!
You are nicer than me. No way would I have taken that smart butt comment. I had a knee brace on and went thru the scanner and they came at me with hands on guns. I won't fly and nobody is putting their paws on me like that again without a fight. I mean do I look that evil....gray hair and all?
I too would like to know or understand why certain people are the ones they "pick" on at the airport. It can be such a hassle.
Wow, I guess that is why I like to travel by car. A year ago we flew to NC. We all went thru the scanner and for some reason they chose my husband to be padded down. I wore flip flops so I wouldn't have to take my shoes off, they made me take my flip flops off? Both my husband and I are both 60+ years old; maybe they are harassing us baby boomers.
This isn't funny because it is one reason I won't fly anymore. I have had a double mastectomy and I know they would be patting me down and that would really upset me. You might be right that they target us older people because we won't protest too much. Too much going on in this world anymore I think I will just stay at home.
Barb, you know it's a no-win situation for you.
We traveled a lot the years over sea. No matter the situation you know those custom agents or military personnel hold all the power, no matter.
Just have to hold you tongue.
That said it was years ago when we traveled, would not enjoy so in today's world.
Just my thoughts and opinion
Hugs
Sorry you had to deal with all that but glad you shared it...I laughed til tears ran down my face and with the news the way it has been, I needed it! THANKS! And enjoy that cheese and cracker :)
Love your sign. Love your story too. What a giggle it gave me. I'm glad I don't have to travel by plane!
Sounds like they were targeting for some reason. I'm sure we don't know half of the stuff or they would have to kill us. Barb, I have 9 pieces of metal in my ankle and I can walk right through the airport. But, I couldn't get through a taping at CBS studio without setting off all the bells and whistles.
I also keep getting patted down when we travel, even thought I tell them about my knee replacements - then they test for explosives - as if!
Hubby usually gets away without the invasion of privacy. Often these people are too busy 'doing their job' and have missed the cable ties (oops!)in my carry on and the tweezers that I forgot to pack and other assorted stuff that I'm not supposed to carry on board. All part of the joys of travel.
Sounds awful, Barb. I don't know what I would have done. Traveling is no longer fun. I once knew an old Indian (First Nations Person) who could tell the weather by a piece of string hanging in a tree. If it was waving, it was windy. If it stiff, it was freezing. If it was wet, it was raining.... well you get the picture.
Very interesting that TSA came into the room and said by law they needed to pad down the men. I've not seen that, but I will ask those I know that work for TSA. And, I'll confess, I have a friend whose DH is one that travels all over the world installing the full body scanners for TSA!
I did have a friend who in her late 80's and in a wheel chair had to go thru a full body scan. I've gone thru them and LOVE to go "oooh, aahh, that FEELS SO GOOD" when they conduct such a scan. Fun to see if I can get them to crack up. For right or wrong it is their job and the wrong part of it is out of control of the average TSA agent. Like a soldier, they are doing what they are told. The process is broken, but suspect it would take the President to make a change....as it was a President that did this to us!
SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
PS - We are currently planning our next trip and routing our flights through cities known to be easier to clear TSA than others. Not all TSA clearances are equally painful!
Ha ha.. I really thought you were going to talk about a box with soap in it. You see, I was "detained" in the line because I was bringing a bar of the local soap home with me. It was in my carryon and apparently set off the alarm. Yep we got the "bomb kit" test. The "lady" (hardly) looked at me askance "Is this soap???"
Very frustrating indeed, although I am laughing at your post. At least you were wearing bomb free shoes! I see people,old, feeble and in wheel chairs being asked to take off their shoes...what have we become?
Enjoy the sun.
funny sign. not funny situation, who enjoys being molested by the tsa! we don't fly either, unless i go home to denmark, no other choice, but funny, over there its not like here at all, customs and passport control is so laid back....in customs, if you have stuff to declare you take the red line, if not, then the green line....
Sorry they had to pat you down. Maybe they chose your husband so they couldn't be acused of racial profiling with younger Middle Eastern males....who knows. It's a crazy world we live in now. The great part is you got to and from there safely!
I totally hate that and if I ever get even 'touched by them' I am going to freak! I have flown a lot and have not been patted down but if I ever was I know it would be traumatic. I have issues with anyone touching me...even hugs. Sorry you have to do this, it seems like they are picking on you....
The pat downs are so silly. It always seems that they select what I would consider the least likely candidates to single out. They are too afraid to pick out the suspicious looking ones for fear of being accused of racial profiling.
Loved the weather sign.
My daughter is 16 and they singled her out at the airport this summer for extra attention. She was less than impressed. To top if off, she was wearing the jacket that she wears to the gun range and we were scared it would set off all the alerts when they swabbed it. nothin. yippee, those air exchangers on the range must work very well.
Hi Barb,
As a follower of your blog, I am writing to invite you to join in gallery of Christmas Tree Skirts. Today I have written a post about the tree skirt that I made several years ago. I eagerly look forward to putting it under my tree each year. I hope that you will join me in featuring your Tree skirt. one you made, one that has been handed down for generations, perhaps it was a gift. Share your story and photos in a blog post (it can be an older post) and then visit my post and add your link to Mr. Linky and then leave a comment.
Thank-you for considering this opportunity. Feel free to share it with any of your online or personal friends. The more the merrier.
http://www.heatherpearson.com/2012/12/oh-christmas-tree-skirt.html
ps, you don't have to approve this as a comment, I didn't have your email to send privately. Thanks, Heather
I was so worried I would get patted down on our trip to New York and was so relieved that I didn't. I probably would have cried. And I don't cry easy...
My mother is 88 and uses a wheelchair. After coming for a visit, when she was leaving, they made her take off her shoes and stand up as best she could and patted her down. I could see this from where I was and was irate, but could do nothing as I had to stay "behind the line" as I wasn't flying. GRRRRR
My husband has stated that security is only for show - it's "security theater" because the truth is that people who want to make a bomb and get on a plane with one are going to manage it, if they are sophisticated enough. So everything you have said here sounds EXACTLY like it was all for show. :) For what it's worth, even when I went to the Holy Land, I had to jump through more hoops at the airport in Chicago than I did in Frankfurt, Germany, or Cairo, Egypt. Since we went via bus from Egypt to the Sinai Peninsula (we were staying at the monastery where the Burning Bush lives still today), basically a guard made each of us walk off the bus and then get back on. I guess he knew the truth - that if we were there to blow up the place, we wouldn't have hidden our bomb someplace where it was likely to be seen. It makes me sad that the joke is really on us as US citizens when it comes to "being safe" flying.
The whole airport security thing is a complete farce and joke. I have no respect for the system in place and chose to drive instead of fly, when I can. The biggest joke was the news story that showed a girlfriend tossing a package over the security fence to an airport worker ... meaning it didn't have to go through screening. And yes, like Judy above said, elderly women in wheelchairs are patted down. Ridiculous. Oooh...I could step on a soapbox real easily here!! :)
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