Airport security, just in time for Thanksgiving

Some people, including some pilots and flight attendant groups, are starting to challenge the TSA on the latest round of, ahem, "security enhancements," which involve see-through scanners and physical groping of private parts .... possibly giving new meaning to the SportsJournalists.com term "Crossed Giblets of Death."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AA55S20101111

 

I read a big article on what the Israel airports and airlines do for security measures and it makes a thousand times more sense than the idiocy that we have to deal with on a daily basis.

 

Meanwhile we all continue to compliantly put our tooth paste and other toiletries in environmentally unfriendly Glad bags and waste hours on end waiting in security lines.

 

I think I'm still scarred from the six hours I stood in line coming back from the SLC Olympics in 2002.

 

Read some of the threads over on the Travel Safety/Security forum over at Flyertalk.com. The TSA is out of control.

 

Just flew with Mrs proudpittsburger a week ago, and it wasn't too bad. But I can see how it is going to cause trouble come time for thanksgiving travel. They just installed one of those "See-through scanners" or are about to in our airport, and she said "No way in hell I'm goign through one of those." I talked with her about it, and it seemed reasonable that you should be able to decline and go through an alternative, which I suppose is patting you down or something like that, but in a busy airport, like New York or Atlanta, good luck finding a TSA agent who is willign to accept, "I don't wanna." When these machines become mainstream in airports, it's gonna get ugly.

 

From what I've read, they want everyone going through the scanners (or "Nude-o-scopes" as they've been nicknamed) and if you opt-out, you get the newly enhanced groping treatment from TSA, where they actually feel you up. Nice.

 

Simply put, the terrorists won. Seriously.

 

The single biggest problem causing security line delays is the fact that the idiots running TSA aren't fucking smart enough to provide enough staff to handle the amount of people passing through security.

The second problem is that people are carrying on too much stuff.

There has to be a better way to screen passengers but that would cost money.

 

I know it makes it more difficult on me, but I am one of those guys who gets rid of everything before going through the scanner. Belt, shoes, pockets emptied and everything put in the laptop bag . . . if anything sets it off at that point, well . . . I guess I am the bomb.

 

I do the same thing. Before I get in line anything that needs to come out of my pockets, plus my watch, goes into my carry-on.

I don't take my shoes off til I get up to the belt though. But I rarely wear shoes I need to tie or untie when I'm flying. I do have to unload a laptop and a sleep machine but I move like a NASCAR pit crew getting that stuff out compared to most people I see.

I never take my belt off and I can't remember the last time I've been asked to.

 

Sad but true.