X-ray backscatter security scanners

[channlluv]

Well, I woke up practicing what I would say to the pat down agent, just like ny biker suggested, and I feel better about it today.

It just occurred to me that I have no trouble getting naked for my sports therapy massages. Those aren't invasive, though, and my perception of these pat downs is that they're invasive. So I need to change my perception.

This woman is just doing a job. That's all it is. Although, Pax, some of the YouTube videos I watched seemed a little excessive on the rubbing.

Knot, thank you for the suggestion of telling the ID checker about my history of skin cancer. I can for sure do that. And I will check with my doctor about the valium. I've taken it before for dental work. I get wiggy in that chair, too.

Jess, congrats on getting through the machine without setting them off. Is that part of the therapy, getting stronger so the metal rods and such aren't as detectable?

pll, I'm going to ask the agent to change her gloves, too.

What do you guys think about the violation of our Fourth Amendment Rights to no unreasonable searches of our persons? I've been doing a lot of reading the last couple of days online and there's a lot of outrage about it, but it doesn't seem like anyone can do anything about it. I've written one real-mail letter to Barbara Boxer (my Senator), one email to the White House comment line, and one phone call to a sympathetic but unmoving TSA agent through their national contact line.

What has to happen for these machines and enhanced pat downs to go away? Is our collective ego so big that we can't take a lesson on security from Israel?

Is this really what the Nazis did to the German people before they started carting off whole neighborhoods to the internment camps? I read that somewhere. I can't remember where.

Someone on the boards here said something about our own government terrorizing us more than Al Queda ever dreamed. There's a lot of truth in that.

Roxy

[Trek420]

Is this really what the Nazis did to the German people before they started carting off whole neighborhoods to the internment camps? I read that somewhere. I can't remember where.

No, it's really not.

Oy . As the child and grandchild of survivors I feel one shouldn't compare anything with the Holocaust other than other genocide.

I personally feel atrocities like the Sudan, the killing fields of Cambodia, the decimation of Native American peoples are the same. Numbers may be less or even more such as the numbers killed during Stalin's Russia.

Others feel passionately that nothing should ever be compared to the Holocaust and that doing so trivializes the death of over 6 million killed because of who they were.

I'm sure we feel as I do that we should know history so we never forget and never let this happen again. I recommend you start with a reliable source and not some forum. You'll never learn anything on a forum I recommend starting:

http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/

[OakLeaf]

we should know history so we never forget and never let this happen again

... and an important part of that is not forgetting the other 5-7 million people killed by the Nazis ...



/hijack

[pll]

Roxy: You do not need to tell the TSA folks anything about your health. You can opt out without explanation. At least in O'Hare, there are prominent signs stating you may opt out of the back scatter. I opt out not because of a health issue, but because I do not trust the TSA to competently maintain and handle those machines. In a hospital, they are attended to by specialists and not used nearly as frequently. The TSA won't even allow their personnel to wear the badges that track their exposure to radiation.

It may help to crack a joke if you are apprehensive. I don't find the pat down particularly invasive. The TSA person always tells you what she is about to do, and does it quickly. Not the most comfortable event ever, but a lot less invasive than most doctor/dentist visits.

[channlluv]

No, it's really not. ...

I'm sure we feel as I do that we should know history so we never forget and never let this happen again. I recommend you start with a reliable source and not some forum. You'll never learn anything on a forum I recommend starting:

http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/

Thank you, Trek, for your understanding. I certainly meant no offense, but I think you know that. Thanks for the directions, too, to the appropriate source material. I've realized that people who are trying to express something with great passion tend toward the bombastic in comparing their drama with other historical events of much greater magnitude. I'm sorry I let that seep into my post.

I appreciate all the other good points made and opinions shared, too.

I do love the variety on this board.

Roxy

[pll]

Hmm Snap... Borderline. Something like that won't help those who are anxious about these pat downs and looked for reassurance in this very thread.

[TsPoet]

Hmm Snap... Borderline. Something like that won't help those who are anxious about these pat downs and looked for reassurance in this very thread.

I not only laughed, I showed it to the SO, who also had his day brightened.

[Trek420]

No fair giving just the highlights. Now I'm waiting for the rest of the the Harlequin novel where she also gets the castle. I've never read one but I heard somewhere that Harlequin novels plot lines are 3 little words: girl gets house.

Aren't the pat downs usually done by the same gender? That's a whole 'nother genre of literature.

[Duck on Wheels]

I'm a frequent flyer. So far the past 12 months: at least a dozen round trips, many of them involving multiple flights each way, often with separate security checks (many airports don't have a way to get from one area to another without going out of the secure area, which means you have to get checked to get back in). I always opt out of the backscatter x-ray. Imagine my exposure just from flying if I didn't! Not to mention all the x-rays I have for medical reasons I am usually not asked why I'm opting out. Twice I was asked and just said I wanted to limit my radiation exposure. I didn't elaborate. Opting out always entails some extra wait time, since they have to call an appropriate (= same sex) security officer over to do the pat down. (Yes, assuming that a same sex officer is appropriate is a heterosexist assumption, but I don't heckle them about that.) At first the pat down was quick and efficient but brusk, as if I was a trouble-maker for opting out. More recently it's been highly professional in that the officer explained each step before doing it - which didn't take noticeably longer. Last time I was asked if there was anything she should be aware of in the pat down - sensitive spots or unusual anatomy. I said I had an ostomy appliance. She asked where. I pointed. She had me hold my hand over that area as she did the pat down, then she did a wipe scan of my hand. Another officer asked if they had to do a wipe scan of the appliance itself or have me strip down in a separate room. She said no and explained why to him. I used to find many TSA folks insensitive. I think they've received some training over the years now. I wish they were being better treated, especially regarding their own radiation exposure. I find that travel is not a hassle as long as I: 1) get to the airport in good time, 2) smile (and ye will be smiled back at), 3) relax into my zen fatalist state (I got here on time, I did my bit, now it's up to the airline and no longer my problem - eventually, I will get where I need to be).

[snapdragen]

I took my post out -- it was bothering me last night. I'll move it to a more appropriate spot.

[Veronica]

Is our collective ego so big that we can't take a lesson on security from Israel?

Given the numbers of people who travel here in the US I suspect we would need to get to the airport a DAY or two ahead of our flights to get interviewed by the well trained agent to see if we are terrorists.


And how many well trained agents would there need to be at every airport? How much money are those well trained agents going to get paid yearly? What funds are going to be used to pay them?

Israel as a country is like 1/10 the size of California. How many major airports do they have? Fewer than California I suspect.

What you are suggesting would be a huge undertaking and a massive financial burden on someone - either the travelers or the taxpayers.

Veronica

[OakLeaf]

I don't think opposition to racial profiling - or other profiling based on appearance - has anything to do with "ego."

It does seem to me that people profiled as most likely to be terrorized, not terrorists - in particular elderly white females - are disproportionately selected for extra screening. I could go on about why I think that's the case ...

[Veronica]

Are those just the ones that get written up in the news though?

I am sure, as with every profession, there are icky people. But to just assume that they are all icky... That's like saying all teachers are in it for the three months off and because they couldn't a real job. All lawyers are scumbags and ambulance chasers. All IT people are geeks and can't get a date.

We know those generalizations aren't true. Teachers only get two months off.

Veronica

[OakLeaf]

Are those just the ones that get written up in the news though?

It's what I've observed and what I've heard from relatives. Not that writing it up in the news isn't part of the strategy ...

I don't think individual TSA screeners are "icky," by and large. I think they're underpaid for doing an unpleasant and potentially dangerous job, and on top of that, they've had to fight tooth and nail every step of the way for employment rights that most workers take for granted. But all law enforcement jobs force workers into an "us vs. them" mentality, and they're no exception.

(Part of why I knew I couldn't do criminal law as a career, as much as I loved some of the work. Prosecution or defense, it doesn't matter, seeing only the ugliest side of humanity day after day - and looking hard to find the ugliness in every person you see - just warps people. IMVHO...)

[Veronica]

But all law enforcement jobs force workers into an "us vs. them" mentality, and they're no exception.

I guess I'm weird because I don't feel that way. I've always felt like law enforcement was on my side. Even when I got pulled aside for extra screening, which annoyed me. But I still felt like they were just doing their job to try to keep every one safe.

Maybe I'm naive because believe in the system. It's not a perfect system and I know there is injustice. But I think it's better than anything else.

And I'm glad that I am in a position where I can look for the goodness in those I work with.

Veronica