My Random Screening at the Airport

[madmatt]

No, you're right. My tolerance is low when it comes to discussion like this. So I apologize Van.

I just wish people would understand why these systems are in place and respect that the FAA has a duty to protect everyone and that's why the random searches occur. I can certainly understand the inconvenience but inconvenience is a part of life.

 

[Vanquished]

Matt, im sorry if you lost someone in 9/11, as i said before i was simply trying to start a discussion. I did not have any goal of angering anybody, and I am sorry if i did.

 

[Sazar]

My feelings are a little different.

I am targeted, not randomly, because of my ethnicity. It has nothing to do with my name or anything else but purely my ethnicity.

When I travel with my girl, she NEVER get's screened whereas I am there in the "special" alley getting the special treatment.

That's why when I see threads like this, I have no sympathy because I don't raise a bruhaha over the issues.

There are definitely issues and I think the whole screening process is ludicrous, the US has probably the worst international screening process in the world (that I have seen) but c'est la vie.

If they think they are deterring people, all the more power to them. Domestic flight security is a pathetic joke. But at the end of the day it's all about the bottom line.

So yes, I agree with vanquished that the procedure is laughable. People like myself have a very valid complaint because of the blatant racial profiling.

 

[Vanquished]

Yay!
Someone who agrees that the whole setup is a joke, I'd have to say that i hate it when certain races or groups are selected, there is no valid reason to do this and the scanners should be arrested or fired. As i said before i brought a knife aboard (after 9/11) and wasn't stopped and yet my mother, got stopped for having little beuty scissors in the bottom of a carry-on... Im not sure if its the x-ray's fault or the idots behind the x-ray.

 

[lancer]

I'll probably be bashed for saying this, but the security in the UK in the airports is far far better than the US and probably costs a whole lot less as well, granted we've have decades of experience with the IRA etc... but couldn't the US emulate the way we do it, especially on the respect and politeness front. (that doesn't include the ****-suckers in british immigration at gatwick though, i wouldn't mind seeing them burn in hell).

 

[Vanquished]

No way will you be bashed by me.
In my opinion the UK has it down in many places.
The UK definately has better security techniques.

 

[Evil Marge]

My cousin's Chief custody officer in our local prison and she said that the reason I get stopped all the time is because of the way I look.
Apparently only being 4' 9" makes me look least likely to be the one but it's that innocent look that people use to cover up a crime.
My hubby is a 6 foot "skinhead" and he's never even looked at twice :crosseyed:

 

[Sazar]

Wear heels.

:smoker:

 

[lancer]

But i'll say this and i was amazed.

When i went to RAF Brize Norton (actually i'm not going to finish this just in case any dodgy people get any ideas... seriouslly).

 

[Vanquished]

lol,
Do they still make people take sandals off?
I seem to remember that back a while ago women in sandal like shoes and people in sandals didn't have to take their shoes off.

 

[technokid88]

next time i fly to nyc, im going to ware my adidas 1.1's and see what reaction they will have when they put it through the xray machine.

 

[Vanquished]

Hahaha, i wouldn't
They might confiscate them thinking that they are cd
On that note, the only type of explosive that you could fit in a shoe is c4, and c4 requires blast caps to ignite it, to get the blast caps you have to be in the government or on duty in the army.

 

[lancer]

actually i seem to remember stories in the 90's that russia had built tiny nuclear nitron bombs the size of pencils

 

[Sazar]

actually i seem to remember stories in the 90's that russia had built tiny nuclear nitron bombs the size of pencils

Got to love the imagination of strategist hopped up on recreational drugs.

:smoker:

 

[Vanquished]

I dont know whether or not to sound stupid by ask "really?" so ill just say, lol

 

[Vanquished]

Back in MA now, i just got additionally screened on the way back as well...

 

[Evil Marge]

Sorry couldn't resist :laugh:

 

[Steevo]

Me and my wife flew to see my parents. We had just gotten married and her new ID hadn't come in yet. we flew through everywhere untill Portland where we got bumped. Everywhere I got checked out, head to toe. And in case you haven't seen my picture, I don't fit the exact profile. She, with no ID and not having the experiance of being ready to go in line, only got screened at Portland.

It is a joke though, like watching a couple movies and having a wand makes you a superman or invencible.

But if you don't like it, don't fly, take a boat or start swimming.

 

[Vanquished]

Thats true,
I was thinking, if a laptop was a bomb, and they ask me to turn it on, isn't it most likely that that would set it off?
Most unlikely is it that a bomb could possibly work, as i said before, unless it happens to be in a timer in ur suitcase, the only possible bomb is c4 and thats it hard to ignite.

 

[damnyank]

I hate these type of discussions - but what the heck!

Ya'll know what happened Sept 11th 2001 - right?

Mrs DY and I left Jackson, MS headed for London (thru Atlanta, GA) on Oct 4th 2001! I had not been to England to see her relatives for 17 years and we made up our minds - come hell, high water or terrorists - we were going as scheduled!

That was the tightest security we have ever seen and please remember I have flown into and out of VietNam and Thailand during the "undeclared war" and Mrs DY and I have flown into and out of just about every Europeon country plus, Guam, Korea, the Phillipines and Japan!

I personnally will never bitch, complain or in any way interfer with anyone (no matter how crazy it may seem) who is trying to make my flight safer from terrorists! OK - some of it is pretty funny, I get to empty my carry on bag, take off my shoes, submit to a pat down and wand check and I am flying for an hour and 20 minutes from Jackson to Atlanta.(and the plane doesn't even have enough gas in it to get to Mexico).

That said, we had a great trip to England, returning Oct 25, 2001 for me to go back to work @ the Post Office amid threats of anthrax! Not a very nice thought!

However that was the early days and things have changed since then although the "threat" IMHO will always be there!

So - quit your complaining, be co-operative, and don't do anything stupid. Besides perhaps maybe your being patted down will draw attention to you and turn on some chick watching!