# Airport searches **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 16, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438 "2012-07-16T19:49:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438/41 "2012-07-19T13:20:00Z")
Everyone should fly naked. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438/42 "2012-07-19T13:38:34Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Everyone should fly naked. Not everyone. I will _randomly_ pick the passengers who must disrobe. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438/43 "2012-07-19T14:19:19Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > They should have _the button_ like they do in a lot of second-world countries. Had that when I flew into Cancun five years ago, but it was for customs, not pre-boarding security. The customs officer tells you to press a button on a panel, and the machine randomly flashes a red light or a green light; if it flashes red, your bags will be hand-searched by the customs officer. If green, and you have nothing to declare, you’re free to enter the country. I agree with you, this seems like a good way to eliminate bias (real or imagined) on the part of TSA officers, and might help quel the grumbling and paranoia of the flying public if it were implemented in the US. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438/44 "2012-07-19T16:28:45Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Had that when I flew into Cancun five years ago, but it was for customs, not pre-boarding security. The customs officer tells you to press a button on a panel, and the machine randomly flashes a red light or a green light; if it flashes red, your bags will be hand-searched by the customs officer. If green, and you have nothing to declare, you’re free to enter the country. > > I agree with you, this seems like a good way to eliminate bias (real or imagined) on the part of TSA officers, and might help quel the grumbling and paranoia of the flying public if it were implemented in the US. I like that idea. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438/45 "2012-07-20T13:52:10Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Everyone should fly naked. Portland’s airport stripper John Brennan convinces judge nudity was protest against TSA > **[Portland's airport stripper John Brennan convinces judge nudity was protest...](https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2012/07/portlands_airport_stripper_joh.html)** > > Portland is buffing its image as Naked City USA with the latest nudity case to grab national headlines. Already, Oregon's most populous city is home to one of the largest annual World Naked Bike Rides on the planet, with as... ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438/46 "2012-07-20T18:00:16Z")
The one that kills me is that people still try to wear fleeces, sweaters, jackets through the body scanner. Stash those in your carry-on while waiting in line. I think they should just make the rules simple, consistent (which is supposedly what airlines are clamoring for the TSA to do regarding carryon bags): 1. One hopper for your shoes and your bag of liquids 2. Your laptop 3. One carry-on bag of a legitimate size (please place your cell phones, watches, jewelry, keys, money from your pockets, and BELTS should be placed on here PRIOR to arriving at the effing conveyor belt) 4. Your laptop bag, purse, or reading material bag (smaller than a briefcase or you get hit over the head with it) Anyone carrying a grocery bag or other shopping bag or box should similarly be hit upside the head for being lazy and bad for the environment. Obviously medical conditions, wheelchairs, crutches, have exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438/47 "2012-07-21T01:59:05Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Speaking as a guy that used to travel with every cord known to man, laptop, digital camera, GPS, plus specialized automotive electronic test equipment this is incorrect. > They would sometime poke around a bit or swab but it was for sure not a guarantee. > You really want to get a funny look carry a license plate in your carry on. We got pulled out of the line in Frankfurt and told that our volume of wires was suspicious. Three people, two cellphones and two DS chargers, a Laptop and an iPad was not excessive, I thought. They were threatening and unpleasant until we got locked into a tiny side room with two agents, then my ten year old went sheet white and said “I’m going to throw up!” and started gagging. We were physically thrown out of the room!! Literally, door unlocked and shoved out. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438/48 "2012-07-21T14:07:05Z")
> [@Hokkaido\_Brit](#): > > We got pulled out of the line in Frankfurt and told that our volume of wires was suspicious. Three people, two cellphones and two DS chargers, a > Laptop and an iPad was not excessive, I thought. They were threatening and unpleasant until we got locked into a tiny side room with two agents, then my ten year old went sheet white and said “I’m going to throw up!” and started gagging. We were physically thrown out of the room!! Literally, door unlocked and shoved out. So…did he/she throw up just outside the door? What happened next? My SO had a cyst on his head…it’s benign, thank you for asking…but it would show up as an “anomaly” when he’d go through the scanner, and they would have to check his head out. He flies a lot. So when his doctor decided it needed to be removed, he gave him no argument. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438/49 "2012-07-21T14:42:28Z")
No, he didn’t. The air was cooler in the main hall and after a few more gags, he calmed down and was able to go on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airport-searches/628438.md?page=2)