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Post by Darcy Collins on Apr 28, 2022 12:51:34 GMT
This thread is giving me flashbacks to right after 9/11 when I was traveling extensively with a breast pump and breast milk - yeah fun times! I never knew how long security would take.
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kate
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Jun 26, 2014 3:30:05 GMT
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Post by kate on Apr 28, 2022 14:11:14 GMT
I get pulled over every time to have my armpits checked. I must have electric deodorant or something. I don't even sweat much, so moisture wouldn't explain it.
It's always a woman, and it's never been a problem.
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Dalai Mama
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La Pea Boheme
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Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Apr 28, 2022 14:43:53 GMT
Every time I travel through the US. No, I've never felt violated - they've always explained what they were doing while they were doing it to the point where I felt like saying, "Yeah, yeah. Can we just get on with it?"
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Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 28, 2022 15:28:34 GMT
I get a pat down nearly every time I fly because I like to wear oversized hoodies. It's never been an issue, they are always polite and appropriate. They always tell me to take off my jacket or sweatshirt if I have something like that on and send it through the scanner in a tray.
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my3freaks
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Posts: 3,206
Location: NH girl living in Colorado
Jun 26, 2014 4:10:56 GMT
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Post by my3freaks on Apr 28, 2022 17:02:59 GMT
Don't they just have you take it off and put it with your carry on on the belt? They always ask me to (though I'm already going to do that). I fly with hoodies too. This could be one of the reasons I get searched a lot, but most of the time I'm not wearing a zip up hoodie. If I am, I do put that in a bin. Usually though, I'm just wearing a big comfy hoodie as my shirt, and don't have anything but a bra under it. I get pulled aside nearly every time I fly. I do have hardware in my back, but I don't see why seeing rods & screws on an x-ray would excite them. One time, while traveling with my mom, sister-in-law and niece, I was (the only one, of course) pulled aside to be checked out. The agent who was about to search me was brand new and so nervous. She said there was a flag in my groin and pointed right at my crotch. She seemed seemed so mortified as she told me she needed to do a pat down over my clothes and asked if I wanted to go to the private room or whatever they call it. I was trying so hard not to laugh, and told her, I promise, there's not a flag in there, but I was fine where we were, and to go ahead and do what she had to do. My niece stayed a couple steps away, just losing her shit, which was making it even harder for me not to laugh. The poor girl (the agent, not my little jerk of a niece lol) must've apologized a dozen times while explaining every move she made and the much older, crusty, NO humor having supervisor that had been watching her told her (very rudely) check my hair (messy bun) and swab my hands. She was so surly, and obviously not amused at all by my comment about the no flag in my groin, or my niece (and SIL & mother now) laughing about me potentially smuggling flags in my prison pocket. (They had moved away from the area and my niece was texting them a play-by-play ) I have TSA pre-check and still get pulled aside more often than not. I chose the 'no issues' option on the quiz, because in the grand scheme, it's never been one. I don't love it though. I'm very much a please don't touch me or enter my personal space type of person. My instinct was to pick the uncomfortable option because I don't like people, especially strangers to touch me at all, but I've never had a TSA agent pat me down in a way that I felt was uncomfortable because it was inappropriate. I know way too much gets by them, but I'll suffer through a minute or whatever of a pat down if stops even one person from getting on a flight with deadly intentions.
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Post by padresfan619 on Apr 28, 2022 17:10:48 GMT
I was boarding a flight in 2010 just a few weeks after the âunderwear bomberâ incident and was pulled from the jetway to be pat down. I was 21, traveling alone, and they had a man pat me down. I was uncomfortable but didnât feel violated. It felt weird to have it done beyond the TSA check point just right on the way into the plane. They randomly picked me because I was wearing a thick cable knit sweater.
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Post by epeanymous on Apr 28, 2022 17:12:33 GMT
This thread is giving me flashbacks to right after 9/11 when I was traveling extensively with a breast pump and breast milk - yeah fun times! I never knew how long security would take. Ha. I traveled for a lot of years with a pump, and when I did, the agents would do a chemical swab of my hands.
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Post by delila on Apr 28, 2022 19:37:18 GMT
I always wait for the female TSA agent so I can get a pat down. I had a VNS, vagus nerve stimulator, for a few years that was removed but I still have left over wires in my neck. Because those left over wires are not able to be surgically removed I set off the metal detectors wherever I go.
Itâs always a fun time when I go to a concert etc and try to explain to the person working the machine that I cannot enter it. I carry a card explaining my reasons etc but TSA is usually the only one who sort of, barely, not really gives a fuck and reads it.
I have noticed that at concerts, sporting events and the like that are at bigger venues the metal detector workers usually wave me through. I asked one why they did and his answer was that I didnât look dangerous!!! Ted Bundy didnât look dangerous either.
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Post by katlady on Apr 28, 2022 20:41:44 GMT
I've been patted down twice. Once was no big deal. The other time, wasn't really a big deal, but it was odd. It was on a small puddle jumper flight from San Diego to LAX. It was one of those planes that seat about 30 people. There were three Asian women on the flight, me being one, we were all flying as singles, and all 3 of us got pulled aside for a secondary search. What are the odds?? No profiling?? I don't remember the year or if there was something going on in the world with Asian flyers. I just thought it was odd. I did get the handles of my carry-on swabbed once.
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peasquared
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Jul 6, 2014 23:59:59 GMT
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Post by peasquared on Apr 28, 2022 20:59:36 GMT
@zee and crazy4scraps . They always ask me to take them off, but then I'd be standing there in just a bra.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 29, 2022 3:48:56 GMT
@zee and crazy4scraps . They always ask me to take them off, but then I'd be standing there in just a bra. đł đ€Łđđ€Ł I always have on a t-shirt underneath so Iâm good with taking it off.
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Post by melanell on Apr 29, 2022 20:22:33 GMT
(I was testing a new product in a line for transgender people and doing a test run to see how it would work going through international security, metal detectors, scanners, etc. I wanted to see what the issues were before I just sent people out to be potentially humiliated by TSA who aren't always the most discrete or respectful.) I think it's so fantastic that you do this. What a wonderful way to help people better know what to expect in different situations.
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Post by katiekaty on Apr 30, 2022 13:53:29 GMT
45 years of flying and never a pat down, just a look at decorative crystal rhinestones on a shirt I was wearing. I now never wear anting but knit pull on sweats or leggings, tshirts and a hoodie no strings. I also have TSA pre check and shed the watch glasses and phone to the purse. I have never been stopped or checked since the âpretty crystalâ instance which really wasnât a pat down but a more how did you do that !
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Post by birukitty on Apr 30, 2022 17:34:31 GMT
A few years ago (less than 7) I was flying out of BWI (Baltimore) airport going to Boston with my father and sister. They told me I had to get a pat down when we were going through security. I assumed it had to do with the 2 titanium screws I have in my right shoulder. A female agent offered to do it privately in a separate room, but I declined saying I was fine. I don't know what was going on with this TSA agent but when she got to my lower body she put her hand up flat (not palm up or down, but sideways) and in a swift motion slammed her hand up into my crotch. It hurt like hell, but I didn't say anything. My father and sister were already waiting for me and I didn't want to cause trouble and hold up our flight.
I did tell my family after it was through and we were at our gate. My father said, "You should have gotten her name. Do you want to go back now and get it?" I declined, again worried about missing our flight.
That was a lesson learned. Now I know if it ever happens again to get the agent's name right then. I think at the time I was in a bit of shock.
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Post by Zee on Apr 30, 2022 17:40:11 GMT
@zee and crazy4scraps . They always ask me to take them off, but then I'd be standing there in just a bra. I wear a tank top underneath if not a tshirt. I'm always cold! But it's usually a zip hoodie so I can easily take it off and on. And I wear a pair of ridiculous platform zebra Ugg slippers when I fly because they make people smile (I have gotten so many compliments on those things) and because they're easy on and off. If you ever fly through ATL and notice a middle aged lady in a hoodie, high messy bun, hoops, and zebra Ugg slippers, it's probably me. Wave hi!
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peasquared
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,682
Jul 6, 2014 23:59:59 GMT
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Post by peasquared on Apr 30, 2022 18:36:31 GMT
@zee and crazy4scraps . They always ask me to take them off, but then I'd be standing there in just a bra. I wear a tank top underneath if not a tshirt. I'm always cold! But it's usually a zip hoodie so I can easily take it off and on. And I wear a pair of ridiculous platform zebra Ugg slippers when I fly because they make people smile (I have gotten so many compliments on those things) and because they're easy on and off. If you ever fly through ATL and notice a middle aged lady in a hoodie, high messy bun, hoops, and zebra Ugg slippers, it's probably me. Wave hi!
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Post by scrappintoee on Apr 30, 2022 18:42:09 GMT
potentially smuggling flags in my prison pocket. ROFL! PRISON POCKET! Never heard this before! And your entire story has me LOL! his answer was that I didnât look dangerous!!! Ted Bundy didnât look dangerous either. You are sooo correct! slammed her hand up into my crotch. It hurt like hell, but I didn't say anything. That is terrible!
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my3freaks
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,206
Location: NH girl living in Colorado
Jun 26, 2014 4:10:56 GMT
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Post by my3freaks on Apr 30, 2022 19:18:04 GMT
ROFL! PRISON POCKET! Never heard this before! And your entire story has me LOL! My niece and I are wicked close. My brother has accidently called her by my name her whole life because she's always looked so much like me. I know he loves the reminder of his favorite sister! We still laugh about it. When I'm out there visiting, my brother will say I'm being a brat or something (yes, we revert to children around each other. Our poor mom!) and Courtney will say something like "she's had a flag in her groin for 2 years, of course she's cranky!" or sometimes when I walk in the house she'll yell "Check her hair!".
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Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 30, 2022 19:33:26 GMT
45 years of flying and never a pat down, just a look at decorative crystal rhinestones on a shirt I was wearing. I now never wear anting but knit pull on sweats or leggings, tshirts and a hoodie no strings. I also have TSA pre check and shed the watch glasses and phone to the purse. I have never been stopped or checked since the âpretty crystalâ instance which really wasnât a pat down but a more how did you do that ! There was a time when I used to travel frequently for work and I did/do the same things. Nothing sucks more than getting stuck standing there in your socks with half your stuff in bins, scrambling to put everything back on or stuff it in your carry on bag. Iâve told the story before about flying to a convention with my sister once who wore this belt with big metal grommets all around. She got stopped and checked with a pat down on the way out, they wanded her, wiped her bag and everything. đ After the convention, weâre heading back to the airport at 4:00 am, and you guessed it. She wore that same damn belt on the way home instead of packing it in her checked bag! đ€Ș Sheâs not the sharpest tool in the shed.
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katybee
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Jun 25, 2014 23:25:39 GMT
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Post by katybee on May 1, 2022 4:27:41 GMT
Never had a pat down. But my brother, who has several metal rods in his arm, gets patted down every time. He cannot lift his arm and has a lot of pain, and they are always very careful and understanding.
I flew today and got sniffed by the TSA K-9âs for the first time ever. It was a whole productionâwe had to stop at a line and then walk 2 at a time, side by side, at the same rate âlike we were at a wedding.â I donât know how Iâve missed that all these years. It was at my hometown airport, tooâŠ.
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zella
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Jul 7, 2014 19:36:30 GMT
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Post by zella on May 2, 2022 2:25:32 GMT
A big thank you to everyone who has participated. I'm glad to see I'm not alone in having felt violated. Happened upon the video and it just brought it back, even though it was years ago. Had a pat down by a female TSA officer in Maui. She ran her hand up my leg, across my crotch, down the other leg. The reason I felt violated was that she freaking touched my labia! No one does that but my husband (not even a doctor since I had a complete hysterectomy many years before this and we're both very much one person people. I didn't realize how horrible it was right at the time or I'd have asked to speak to a supervisor. But that can't be right, surely? Pat me down and cop a feel? Anyway, this thread was worth it just for Steph's story, that's for sure!
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