About a year ago, I went through TSA and asked to opt out of the body scans in place of a pat down.
Another agent on the side watched the whole thing and made kissing faces my way the whole time while making gay jokes.
It was extremely belittling. Fuck TSA.
They need badge numbers and names prominently displayed on their uniforms, written in inch-high characters.
Had a really similar experience until I said that “this is the cheapest rub job I’ve ever gotten” and winked at him. He didn’t appreciate that.
Tbh I seem to be making it my life’s work to be a little shit at airport security. I will _never_ use the millimetre scanner which seems to be a huge point of contentenion. And, while not TSA, the Gatwick airport security were trying very hard to convince me that I didn’t have a solid reason not to use this thing. Almost calling me silly or implying I’m stupid.
On the same trip I tried flying with half a tub of hair créme (layrite) and, while I managed to fly in from Copenhagen with the tub, apparently Gatwick has different rules, so if the container has the potential of fitting more than 100ml it’s disallowed.
Empty bottles are fine, but even a single drop of water makes it forbidden.
It’s. Ludicrous.
These days I aim for London City or Leeds-Bradford if I can, Heathrow is my second choice, and I'll actively avoid Gatwick and Manchester unless there's no other alternative.
I keep meaning to try Glasgow or Edinburgh for departures... I've flown into Edinburgh due to a KLM screw-up but never departed from there.
I had no idea it was usually like this.
Basically, constantly rushed by the security staff, and another passenger tried to make off with my phone (the guy next to me stopped him by asking "Hey, are you with this guy (me)? I think that's his...").
You can even see by the passive aggressive (and consistent device) signs in security "All electronic devices must be taken out. Small electronic devices are excluded. Failure may result in delays of up to 2 hours" that it's an institutional problem. iirc they had some distinction where being battery powered meant it was a small electronic device, unless it was an iPad.
Add to that usual airport inconsistencies like "do I need to remove an 8inch tablet?" from my bag. A 10 inch tablet is pretty universally required to be removed, but I've been instructed both to return my 8 inch tablet to my bag or to remove it from my bag and sneered at for getting it wrong, sometimes at the same airport.
Or let's talk shoes + TSA in the US: Some airports require them through the scanner, others will look at you like your crazy. This will often not be reflected in local signage.
But then threatening a 2 hour delay for not reading their mind is just dumb.
In my final visit to Manchester airport, apparently an 8inch tablet does count as a small electronic device but a PS4 controller does not. Therefore I was supposed to conclude from the passive aggressive sign that the tablet must be in my bag and the PS4 controller must not be in my bag.
Gov't guidance states that ‘...the individual must either be screened by an alternative method which includes at least an enhanced hand search in private...’ [0]. Is that just a standard pat-down, or is it more ‘eeny meeny miney mo, I wonder where my glove will go?’
[0] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm...
Same as a normal in-public patdown tbh.
Thanks for informing me, I will (with a heavy heart) strike Australia off my list of available working/visiting places.
The new laws surrounding encryption should have tipped me off.
Thanks for letting me know. :)
Genuinely curious, is there a reason for this, or are you just fucking with the security?
I also have clearly labeled liquids (for medical reasons) which by law I am allowed to carry. At SLC the TSA meticulously opened each one, ruining sterility so I had to discard the lot. Fortunately I got home safely.
The search went from touching every point for "weapons" to immediately letting me through. Didn't even finish the pat down. So if you want to get through quicker, eat some taco bell I guess.
Maybe they thought I shit myself, but whatever, some of those bastards are scum. Not all, but enough of them are.