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F-ing TSA
I am so fed up with the so-called security measures at airports and ready to swear off flying all together. Doesn't help that I had a horrible experience getting groped by TSA at SFO over the weekend, and that I have another flight already booked in three days and am dreading it (thankfully it leaves from Oakland.)
Just read this article about the TSA testing out "an expanded behavior-detection security program" at Logan Airport in Boston. Read more about it here (and make sure you read the second page).
So TSA agents will be tasked with asking annoying, invasive questions of all passengers, and making snap judgment based on whether someone is sweating or acting nervous??? Nice. More privacy invasions. I was pretty nervous when I went through security at SFO because I dreaded having to ask for a pat-down instead of going through the xray machine, and then enduring it. Doesn't make me a terrorist.
Also, it's supposed to take an extra 20 seconds per passenger to do this type of screening. So if there are 75 people in front of you, that's almost an extra half hour that you're waiting in line.
The kicker? The Government Accountability Office has said repeatedly that the program has not been scientifically proven to be effective, while costing hundreds of millions of dollars each year. And we wonder why our country is in debt...
Re: F-ing TSA
fan-freaking-tastic. Another reason I have limited my flying over the years.
So if you are nervous or sweating b/c you are running late, that is a sign you are hiding something?
How the heLL can you train these TSA agents on these "behavioral questions"?
I know for DH, if he gets asked these questions, he would get agitated, If gets agitated, that means he is hiding something? No, it is b/c you are asking these f--- lame questions.
Sounds like some people have been watching too many episodes of Lie to Me.
DH is ALWAYS pulled aside for secondary screening. I don't know what it is about him that makes him seem shifty. Maybe it's the red hair? This isn't going to go well for him if it's implemented everywhere.
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Weird. My DH is a redhead too but hasn't had any particular issues with flying or getting through security. Maybe on top of everything else, TSA hates gingers too :P
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Honestly, I'd rather be asked those questions than walk through the new xray machines. But I've also believed for a while that these "interviewing" techniques are better for screening passengers.
If that were the choice, then sure. I'd rather be annoyed than xrayed. But this is in addition to, not instead of, the xray screenings.
I'm conflicted about this.
On the one hand, hello, how is finding the guy with the stolen wallet not a violation of the 4th amendment? What's the suspicion there?
Secondly, I am a super nervous flier. My ibs is a huge issue when flying and I've literally teared up and been super agitated while flying after they lied to me and trapped me in a seat with no bathroom access. Of course I'm going to be nervous.
(On an unrelated note, those are the standard questions they ask when you go to and from Canada, I wonder if that's behavior profiling too).
And you know this is going to lead to huge racial profile problems. I mean, if someone as intelligent as Juan Williams gets scared by Muslims on planes, you don't think a TSA worker is going to unfairly focus extra on anyone who looks Middle eastern?
On the other hand... I wish I could find the story. I read really impressive story a while back about an airport in a terrorism prone area (may have been the Tel Aviv airport mentioned) using this technique and the results were amazing. Their rate of terrorism was incredibly low.
And S, ignore this question if you want, but was the search like they show on the news? Did they cop a feel, essentially?
Note to self: do not travel on Alaska, Continental, or Delta in the next 60 days (the airlines that fly out of Terminal A). Luckily Terminal A is the smallest of the four terminals at Logan and I don't typically fly any of those airlines. I totally agree that these new measures are completely ridiculous.
Most of you seemed more concerned about your reactions while being interviewed and how those reactions would be interpreted. Therefore, I figured you'd be concerned about this whether or not there were other security measures in place. Also, the article quoted someone stating that these behavior questions are another false sense of security. Personally, I don't find that to be true. Nothing is 100% obviously.
When we left Paris last year we were asked similar questions and it really wasn't a huge deal or super inconvenient. Maybe that's why I'm not too concerned about this added measure.
I don't mind sharing. I don't recall what I've seen on TV but I think what I went through was pretty much what I'd heard described months ago. Basically, the TSA agent told me to stand with my legs apart and arms out. I remember her using the backs of her hands to check over my back and butt, and over and between my breasts. She felt around my legs up to the crotch, and stuck her hand around the inside perimeter of my jeans.
She was polite, wore gloves, explained what she was going to be doing throughout the, um, experience, and offered to do the entire search or parts of it behind a privacy screen if I wanted. So, I have no complaints about her specifically. I just told her to hurry up and get it over with. Part of me wanted to go behind the screen because it was humiliating having this done in front of everybody else. But another part of me thought, if you're basically going to touch me inappropriately against my will, I'd rather have witnesses!
It went against every instinct and everything I've been taught as a woman to allow this to happen. We are told from a young age in this country that our body is our own, that we get to decide who touches us and how, that we get to stay "no" and "stop." And here I was, having to stand there and just let it happen. I alternated between wanting to slap her hands away and crying and running away. It was truly awful. I walked away from security shaking and almost in tears because I was so upset and angry.
The "hilarious" thing is that the thought of having to go through that again on a future trip makes me really upset. Having gone through it, I know to expect something pretty awful, so of course I will be a nervous wreck and totally agitated! Which will probably make them target me even more if this new screening process is implemented at other airports.
Oh, they also asked me WHY I wanted a pat-down when I asked for it. I found that kind of annoying and said I just didn't want to go through the xray. The TSA agent persisted, asking if it was because of the radiation exposure or privacy or something else. I just said all of the above and she accepted that.
OK, so to clarify: I am concerned with the entire process costing more money, taking more time and invading my privacy even more when it's not scientifically proven. I'm also worried about them trusting poorly trained, poorly paid TSA agents to make nuanced judgments based on people's behavior and sweating... And I'm concerned about an increase in racial/cultural profiling.
Got it. In my fantasy world the people doing this interviewing won't be the typical TSA agents. hahaha Yeah right.
I just read about your experience above. That sounds really bad. I was pat down when I around 12 in London Heathrow, but not that closely. Also, I did go through an xray scanner a few months ago. I hadn't flown since they went in everywhere and completely forgot to see what line I was in. In SEA they still have a few regular lines. Anyway, by the time I realized I was in that line I was next to go through and just got rushed through. I swear I felt something while I was standing in it. But what bothered me the most was that while standing in it I could no longer see my belongings on the conveyer belt. Someone totally could of grabbed my things during the process.
Out of curiosity, what do people think to be the solution to security? Obviously it won't ever go back to the way it was, but what is the best way to approach it now?
Oh my god. I would be so pissed if I had gone through the stupid xray and then still had to go through the patdown. The TSA agent I had didn't ask me if what she was doing was ok - I'm pretty sure if she did, I would have lost it. No, this is not f-ing ok! Are you kidding me?
I completely agree with the bolded part above. There has to be a better way than this. I don't know what it is yet, but considering (as Stef pointed out) that the TSA has never actually caught a terrorist and that this new process isn't scientifically proven, I'm not holding my breath for TSA to figure out a better way any time soon.
Wow, just wow. I know this is exactly how I would react too. I'm sorry you had to go through that.
Well, for starters, they need to adopt this technology that I believe they are testing in some airports. It's similar to the backscatter x-ray thing, but instead of showing an outline of your naked body, it shows a stick figure, only showing areas where anomalies are present. They should have used it since the beginning since it was available. Sorry, but nobody needs to see your tits and @ss in order to keep you safe.
I just found this article about what you are referring to: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/02/nation/la-na-tsa-scanners-20110202.
As a traveler I'd prefer to not walk through any x-ray type machine. But if I had to choose what the screening agent sees, a stick figure is definitely better. Honestly, I bet they would prefer to see that too.
I know it's isn't our job to come up with solutions, but I think that almost anything that is implemented people will not be comfortable with. I wonder how kids or teenagers feel about these security rules. I doubt they remember traveling in the days where anyone could go through security to the gate. Whenever I'm in an airport I always wonder how crowded terminals felt during those days!
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