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Comment by whatsupdog | Hacker News Reader

I do that too. My reason is I don't want unneeded radiation. My experience is they make it as difficult as possible. They first ignore you couple of times, pretend they don't know what you are asking for, and finally they make you wait a long time, just standing there waiting for someone to show up to do the pat down. But I know their antics now and show up with plenty of time to spare.

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It's been a while since I've flown, but it always seemed to help to not stand completely out of the way lest they forget about you. A bunch of people will ask if you if you're waiting to use the scanner, or even start queuing up behind you until the thugs direct them to go around you. But all this keeps the incentives aligned much better.

Same. I have never gone through a microwave scanner on principle- I shouldn’t be strip searched for the crime of showing up to the airport.

I always get there plenty early and request a pat down, because they always make you wait 10-15 minutes in the hope that you’re desperate to get to your gate.

" I shouldn’t be strip searched for the crime of showing up to the airport."

People have forgotten that the TSA got caught lying about the machines not taking pictures (its just a cartoon!) and their employees laughing at people's bodies.

If the TSA wants to disrobe me they're going to have to do it the honest, old fashioned way. Not some sterilized make believe.

I have never forgotten their lies and abuse with the scanners when they were rolled out. Same boat- you wanna see my body you gotta work for it.

> If the TSA wants to disrobe me they're going to have to do it the honest, old fashioned way. Not some sterilized make believe.

Or at least take me out on a date first

I always opt out, too, also because I don't trust their machines after reading enough stuff like https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/iaurm/cancer_clus... or https://www.propublica.org/article/u-s-government-glossed-ov... and then learning enough about how it was all for theater anyway.

Cool tech, but I don't want it scanning my junk especially, no thanks. I'll just apply Betteridge's law of headlines to the article "You Asked: Are Airport Body Scanners Safe?" at https://time.com/4909615/airport-body-scanners-safe/ and go on my merry way.

The TSA definitely seems to intentionally make me wait unnecessarily long for my patdowns to commence.

The attitude among some TSA employees can be truly confrontational when I'm nothing but polite.

One of them literally shoved their hand so fast and so far up my leg, it stung my private area for a good little while after. Now, whenever their script comes to the point where they ask if there is anything they should know, I have to ask them to not do that please, since it has happened before.

If there is a list of people to be first in line for UBI instead of whatever they do now, I'm okay if it's everybody at the TSA, and I'm guessing that they would be cool with that, too.

Y'all should just get pre-check (or GE) so you can walk through the metal detector instead.

Whistling loudly helps too.

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