Cancer-scanners and opting out
This January I flew from BOS to AUS and back again.
At Boston Logan airport alternate security lines lead to the traditional metal detectors and the x-ray cancer-grams. These are in pairs however, so that two carry-on x-ray lines actually lead to one of each (metal detector and x-ray machine), and the TSA agent on duty in the box between the two lines waves people into either one of the two machines. I stood in the line for the metal detector and was waved into the metal detector line. I did not see anyone opt out during this process. I was irritated by another passenger hyuking to his partner about people who don't want to be seen naked in the x-ray machine. It is a tense environment, and enough to get anyone nervous, not just people like me who refuse to go through the x-ray machine and do so for health reasons.
At the Austin airport alternate security lines lead to the traditional metal detectors and the microwave/millimeter/radio sensor machine. These are again in pairs, so that two carry-on x-ray lines actually lead to one of each, and the TSA agent on duty in the box between the two lines waves people into either one of the two machines. I stood in the line for the metal detector and was waved into the microwave machine line. I waffled for a moment (while I remain firmly unconvinced of the safety of the x-ray machines, I am uncertainly unconvinced of the microwave machines), then said confidently (or so I would like to think) "I would like to opt out."
At which point the TSA agent closest to me started pressuring/harassing me, asking me if I have a cellphone, claiming that it's the same as my cellphone (to which I replied that I don't know if it's the same strength as my cellphone), asking me again if I use a cellphone (to which I replied that I was not convinced of the safety of this device), and so on. This was happening while another agent went to find a female TSA agent (all the agents on duty were men). I was waved around both the microwave machine and the normal metal detector and into a pat-down/waiting area. It took a few minutes (less than 15, maybe even less than 5 but a tense and pressured time it was so I don't know for sure), during which I attempted to watch unobtrusively (though I doubt I succeeded) the pat-down which was occurring to my right. Another gentleman had opted-out as well. His agent was saying nearly the same script about the cellphone while performing the pat-down.
Finally a female agent arrived for me and put on the rubber gloves. She seemed a bit brusque and irritated to be interrupted at whatever she was doing. She gave me a standard speech asking first if I wanted this to be done in a private area and I said no, here was fine (preferable in fact though I did not say so). Then she described where she was going to touch me, and that she would use the backs of her hands over sensitive areas (boobs/ass I presume, though I do not specifically recall) and the blade of her hand on my chest (between the boobs). This proceeded to happen exactly as described. I stood with my arms out and palms facing up; she ran her hands firmly over my torso, arms, and legs; she didn't contact my breasts but did go between them; her leg frisks started from my pants cuffs up and stopped halfway between my knees and groin (a good few inches before she would have "met resistance"). Afterwards she ran a small cloth over her gloves and my bags and tossed it into a machine to test for chemical residue. She told me I was free to go and walked off before the machine even spit out the result.
It was interesting to compare this frisk with the ones I received in China (that's a friendslocked LJ post - let me know if you want access and don't have it, but I don't want China banning me so I'm not opening it). The Chinese frisks were torso only with quick light touches as opposed to the US frisks being (nearly) the entire body with firm pressure. I don't think the Chinese frisks went between my breasts, but one did feel between my underwire and my torso (through my clothes). The frisk covered more of my body than the Chinese frisk, but still left enough that a determined person could bring in contraband. (Now I'm picturing a smuggler with parrots in toilet paper tubes strapped into her bikini line. Yes, people smuggle in parrots in toilet paper tubes, you can't make this shit up.)
The entire atmosphere of the US frisk left me feeling like it was unprofessional, though that was actually due to the environment as opposed to the frisk itself. Honestly, the environment of the other TSA agents belittling us for choosing to opt out is very hostile, intimidating, and harassing; the frisk itself was fine. The atmosphere of security in China is that everyone respects the process and each other. Talking is at a minimum, even between the Han Chinese / Mandarin speaking passengers and agents. There is a lot more trust of authority there, and as a result in everyday cases the wielders of authority have no need to exercise their power. Yes I know that there's a huge power inequity between Chinese government agents and normal Chinese citizens, but normal Chinese citizens don't care about this power inequity, so they don't speak up about it. In the US, many people hate TSA agents and many of the people who become TSA agents are people who want to be able to exercise power over others (no I don't have evidence for this but this is what I perceive as a passenger who has been verbally harassed on multiple occasions at multiple airports) and when they see a vulnerable passenger they do so.
This also reminds me of the transgender TSA screener ( flocked LJ post, mirrored flocked DW post, or google Ashley Yang TSA) who was harassed by the passengers! Only in a country with such issues about the power structure would the passengers harass the government agents. And only this poor transgender woman would be so low down in the power structure that she's have to take it.
Originally posted on Dreamwidth.
comments there. Comment here or there.
At Boston Logan airport alternate security lines lead to the traditional metal detectors and the x-ray cancer-grams. These are in pairs however, so that two carry-on x-ray lines actually lead to one of each (metal detector and x-ray machine), and the TSA agent on duty in the box between the two lines waves people into either one of the two machines. I stood in the line for the metal detector and was waved into the metal detector line. I did not see anyone opt out during this process. I was irritated by another passenger hyuking to his partner about people who don't want to be seen naked in the x-ray machine. It is a tense environment, and enough to get anyone nervous, not just people like me who refuse to go through the x-ray machine and do so for health reasons.
At the Austin airport alternate security lines lead to the traditional metal detectors and the microwave/millimeter/radio sensor machine. These are again in pairs, so that two carry-on x-ray lines actually lead to one of each, and the TSA agent on duty in the box between the two lines waves people into either one of the two machines. I stood in the line for the metal detector and was waved into the microwave machine line. I waffled for a moment (while I remain firmly unconvinced of the safety of the x-ray machines, I am uncertainly unconvinced of the microwave machines), then said confidently (or so I would like to think) "I would like to opt out."
At which point the TSA agent closest to me started pressuring/harassing me, asking me if I have a cellphone, claiming that it's the same as my cellphone (to which I replied that I don't know if it's the same strength as my cellphone), asking me again if I use a cellphone (to which I replied that I was not convinced of the safety of this device), and so on. This was happening while another agent went to find a female TSA agent (all the agents on duty were men). I was waved around both the microwave machine and the normal metal detector and into a pat-down/waiting area. It took a few minutes (less than 15, maybe even less than 5 but a tense and pressured time it was so I don't know for sure), during which I attempted to watch unobtrusively (though I doubt I succeeded) the pat-down which was occurring to my right. Another gentleman had opted-out as well. His agent was saying nearly the same script about the cellphone while performing the pat-down.
Finally a female agent arrived for me and put on the rubber gloves. She seemed a bit brusque and irritated to be interrupted at whatever she was doing. She gave me a standard speech asking first if I wanted this to be done in a private area and I said no, here was fine (preferable in fact though I did not say so). Then she described where she was going to touch me, and that she would use the backs of her hands over sensitive areas (boobs/ass I presume, though I do not specifically recall) and the blade of her hand on my chest (between the boobs). This proceeded to happen exactly as described. I stood with my arms out and palms facing up; she ran her hands firmly over my torso, arms, and legs; she didn't contact my breasts but did go between them; her leg frisks started from my pants cuffs up and stopped halfway between my knees and groin (a good few inches before she would have "met resistance"). Afterwards she ran a small cloth over her gloves and my bags and tossed it into a machine to test for chemical residue. She told me I was free to go and walked off before the machine even spit out the result.
It was interesting to compare this frisk with the ones I received in China (that's a friendslocked LJ post - let me know if you want access and don't have it, but I don't want China banning me so I'm not opening it). The Chinese frisks were torso only with quick light touches as opposed to the US frisks being (nearly) the entire body with firm pressure. I don't think the Chinese frisks went between my breasts, but one did feel between my underwire and my torso (through my clothes). The frisk covered more of my body than the Chinese frisk, but still left enough that a determined person could bring in contraband. (Now I'm picturing a smuggler with parrots in toilet paper tubes strapped into her bikini line. Yes, people smuggle in parrots in toilet paper tubes, you can't make this shit up.)
The entire atmosphere of the US frisk left me feeling like it was unprofessional, though that was actually due to the environment as opposed to the frisk itself. Honestly, the environment of the other TSA agents belittling us for choosing to opt out is very hostile, intimidating, and harassing; the frisk itself was fine. The atmosphere of security in China is that everyone respects the process and each other. Talking is at a minimum, even between the Han Chinese / Mandarin speaking passengers and agents. There is a lot more trust of authority there, and as a result in everyday cases the wielders of authority have no need to exercise their power. Yes I know that there's a huge power inequity between Chinese government agents and normal Chinese citizens, but normal Chinese citizens don't care about this power inequity, so they don't speak up about it. In the US, many people hate TSA agents and many of the people who become TSA agents are people who want to be able to exercise power over others (no I don't have evidence for this but this is what I perceive as a passenger who has been verbally harassed on multiple occasions at multiple airports) and when they see a vulnerable passenger they do so.
This also reminds me of the transgender TSA screener ( flocked LJ post, mirrored flocked DW post, or google Ashley Yang TSA) who was harassed by the passengers! Only in a country with such issues about the power structure would the passengers harass the government agents. And only this poor transgender woman would be so low down in the power structure that she's have to take it.
Originally posted on Dreamwidth.
comments there. Comment here or there.