Well if they are breaking the rules by not offering the pat down by a female officer, then maybe the other rules are being broken as well.
No doubt your wife and her peers were beyond reproach, but as others have noted, most people would find nothing unbelievable in the notion of a couple of TSA screeners laughing, exchanging snide comments, or otherwise acting unprofessionally in that sort of situation.
While I’ve encountered screeners who are professional, efficient, and even friendly, I’ve also had the displeasure to deal with many who were brusque, short-tempered, sarcastic, disrespectful, and generally assholish—if not toward me personally, then toward other passengers, e.g., foreign travelers who failed to immediately recognize the commands being barked at them.
This woman’s story may or may not bear out, but I have no trouble believing that a couple of TSA shitheads would snicker over a female passenger being forced to remove hardware from her boobies.
But my point isn’t that there are “rules” against snickering at passengers. My point is that it’s just not what it’s like. It’s just not what’s done.
I don’t know. I don’t know how to put it any better than that, sorry.
-FrL-
Yeahbut, that’s a “most people” the vast majority of which have no basis for claiming to know whether TSAs would generally behave this way. I, on the other hand, do have some basis for making a claim like that.
Sure, I’ve seen plenty of sort of angrily rude TSAs. Even amongst my wife’s peers. (And it was partly because of the stress induced by the constant effort of not slipping into this attitude that my wife finally quit.)
I’m pretty sure it will basically bear out. I think some stupid newbie did the wrong thing, I think the lady was correctly upset about this, and I think she heard people laughing and felt like they were laughing at her. But I can’t imagine any TSA was actually laughing at her. I know I sound very “faithful” so to speak, but it’s just, I know these people.
(The TSA agents, by the way, generally hate these stupid rules as much as we do. That’s another reason it’s so hard for me to believe any group of them would laugh at a lady in such a position.)
Such paranoia is natural.
-FrL-
Well, then it seems like the only real solution is to carefully palpate the breasts of every female passenger to ensure they don’t have explosive jubblies set to detonate by remote control.
I’ve been looking for an excuse to get out of the insurance biz and into a better line of work anyway…
While the jewelry is removable, it’s not intended to be removed. Unlike an earlobe piercing, which often will never close up completely, even months after the jewelry is removed, a lot of below-the-neck piercings will close up within minutes if the jewelry is taken out.
If she was able to put the jewelry in a pocket and board the plane, she’d need an insertion taper to re-open the hole by the time the plane had taken off and she was able to get into the lavatory to attemt re-insertion. It would be extremely unlikely that she’d happen to be carrying an insertion taper and some antibiotic ointment to help lubricate things.
If they were out for more than a couple of hours, chances are better than even that she would need to be re-pierced and then be forced to go through the whole healing process again.
“Paranoia” would be assuming I’m being followed by the CIA because I was selected for the expanded screening, or worrying that the TSA screener is going to leave a homing device in my luggage. I don’t see what’s paranoid about believing TSA screeners might act like dicks based on my own repeated experience of seeing them act like dicks.
As I said, no doubt your wife and those you’re intimate with are among the “good ones,” but you obviously don’t know everyone out there—if anything, your familiarity makes you less likely to appraise the situation objectively. (In my highly subjective opinion.)
Ah, okay. In that case, it sounds like a dick move. I was sort of wondering why pliers and all were necessary. I think I just assumed they were like ear piercings that could be removed/replaced easily.
Oh well, luckily every one of these fuckers is a government employee and can only be fired with eight written reports, six hearings, the testimony of five eyewitnesses, and the right to seventeen appeals.
…she had been a hijab-wearing muslim woman, with tit rings!! :smack:
It’s the american public’s fault for passively going along with ridiculous rules which do not make us safer, but are put in place only to demonstrate that the ‘powers that be’ are doing something.
I find it weird that you think it’s impossible people can be dicks. You are not personally acquainted with every TSA employee in America, so it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that there are a few out there who are assholes and will snicker at unfortunate passengers.
Google Sailor Sid. Seriously NOT SAFE FOR WORK
And buy a lot of brain bleach. Seriously. He has over 100 genital piercings. i don’t even want to think about it … :eek:
When nipples are outlawed, only the nippleless can fly to Indiannippleless. 
No, IIRC. The white house twisted a lot of arms to make sure TSA people were outside of civil service and union rules. There is a lot of turnover, mainly because of the stress of dealing with long lines of angry, impatient passengers.
I’m going to fly in a couple weeks, and I plan to travel in simple, metal-free clothes. It seems undignified to travel in sweat pants and a t-shirt, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
While I agree with you in principle, how would one go about trying to take a stand against these ridiculous rules? If you take a stand at the airport, you will miss your flight at the bare minimum. If someone tried to organize a protest, who do you protest to (that wouldn’t just ignore you)?
As an aside, what would happen if the lady in question had asked to see a supervisor concerning what she was being told to do? Is that an option for anyone, or would that just lead to more delays?
according to TMZ, the TSA is backing down, saying their policy will be revised.
Please. I was yelled at by a TSA employee for having one 1.5 oz shampoo in a clear Ziplock bag that was smaller than a quart. I apologized and said I’d read on TSA’s website that the rule was “1 quart or smaller” (which is still on TSA’s website) and she yelled at me some more. She would not permit me to pass until I removed the 1.5 oz shampoo and put it into a one quart bag. Meanwhile, my friend with the bonsai sheers with 3" blades passed right through.
So you’ve been around EVERY TSA agent, during EVERY inspection, eh? :dubious:
Question-while not as horrible, would someone have to remove a medic alert bracelet? Mine was a bitch to put on, and it’s rather permantly hooked.
I hope she soaks their sorry asses for everything they’re worth.
You could do like my Mom and wear about 25 bracelets on each arm; she removes them only once every year or two for cleaning. She flies several times per year, and hasn’t been asked to remove them – a good thing since it’d take the better part of an hour.
It just keeps getting better.