Last night was my first official encounter with the x-ray scanner at the airport. In all my travel last year, I somehow managed to avoid it. In San Diego, I told the agent that I did not want to go through the scanner. I was told to sit down in a chair while the man went to find an agent to pat me down. The female agent did not hide her annoyance. She was especially thrilled when I accepted the offer of a private room for the pat down. The articles in the news made the pat downs sound very invasive. I did not want people watching me being man-handled (well, woman-handled). So, the female agent had to find yet another female agent to witness the pat-down. The whole thing was awkward, but I suspect it was mostly awkward because the agent was so pissy about it.
No, I will not conform to a false-sense of security and go through an x-ray machine without a lead vest. Especially since I am given a lead vest at the dentist when the machine is only pointed toward my mouth. Although, I care more about the principle than the health risk.
I anticipated the pat-down to be analogous to 3rd base, but it was not that thorough.
In a private screening room, I stood on my soap box.
Preach. They can be annoyed all they want. But the constitution protects both your free speech and you from illegal search and seizure of your person/property.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, since there is no evidence that the extra procedures stops one single extra thing from getting on a plane, it is little more than state-sponsored sexual harassment.
Viva la resistance!