Outraged by TSA

I agree,Lewing. I had just flown so often without being asked about it that it felt like an affront.  I think a better approach might be, "Is it possible for you to remove your sleeve?"  Answer:  no.  I am a newbie, it's only been a year for me.  Bringing up my cancer always brings tears to my eyes.

By the way, I was also told I had to take a hat off during chemo.  I burst out in tears, and the TSA employees took me out of line and did a pat down.  There was no way I was going commando against my will at a crowded airport.

Well, the TSA gals understood my emotional state.  I was smack in the middle of chemo, and being really brave flying in the middle of it.  You can't regulate kindness, I guess.

I'm going to be flying from Maine to Las Vegas in the fall and would be interested in hearing about the security practices in place in Logan and McCarren airports.  I know the security screening is necessary, I'm terrifed of the scanners (had bad permanent damage from rads) so I know I'll need to get patted down.  Is this done in full view of everyone else getting on the plane?  Are personal health questions (breast forms, reconstruction scars, etc) asked in a public setting?  I am a very private person and am looking for a way to get through this with minimal embarassment.  Any suggestions from seasoneed flyers? 

I would consider it an invasion of privacy to have to explain why I wear a sleeve.  I do think TSA needs to invade our privacy, I just draw that line between privacy vs safety at a different point than most people in the US if the polls are to be belived.

It does not make sense to me that you can compare safe radiation levels from scanners between a population that has never had cancer and a population that has already developed cancer.  Apples and oranges.

LtotheK,

Very well said.....you asked a couple of post back if there  was a "safety test" on the machines?

I did my research because I am a frequent flyer. The former TSA administrator Michael Chertoff is running the show on these machines, the manufacturer of these machines did the "safety test" and TSA does "its own test"

I ask you, how impartial are both of these entities?

Not very, Michael Chertoff went on a media blitz regarding these machines, he has a lot of money invested in them. He's a millionare over this and he sold President Obama on how much the country needed them after the underwear bomber.

Now they are everywhere.

People need to stop being "herds of cattle" and just going a long with everything.

I must say though I did not like the feeling of being bald, and people staring but you are so right ,

  "... it is a HUGE pressure to be different from everyone else."

NativeMainer, the TSA must ask if you would rather have the pat-down done in a private place.  IIRC, it's a requirement that they allow you that amount of privacy.

otter

I worked in the airline industry for many years. Before 911 the industry was not the beast it is today. Although there are many policies and procedures that dont make any sense, most of the procedures were put in place for a reason. As the weeks after 911 unfolded WE the airline employees were put into the roll of what we call TSA today. Most of the procedures used were put into place through trial and error. I know it's not perfect, annoying and time consuming but it's there for a reason. In a perfect world we would not need TSA but we all know thats not going to happen. Happy Travels everyone!

Thanks for the info, all!  I can deal with a pat down if all the other passengers aren't staring at me.  I've also read that the radiation exposure from flying is more than  from the machine.  Intellectually I understand the scanners are probably safe for someone like me that flies infrequently.  My gut keeps remembering how horrible the radiation treatments were, the horrible damage it did to my breast, the summer of hospitalizations, IV antibiotics, hyperbaric treatments and ultimately a mastectomy due to the radiation damage.  I simply am afraid of radiation machines.  I was petrified during knee x-rays recently, Since my upcoming trip is supposed to be for fun, I want to avoid things (like x-ray machines) that will trigger panic attacks and extreme anxiety. I know it's not rational, but there it is.  I'm glad to know there is an alternative to the machines, even if the alternative is uncomfortable for me. Uncomfortable is better than a panic attack.  I'm even more glad to find out that I can have a level of privacy so a bunch of strangers won't be staring at me and watching me cry.  (I cry with any stress lately, so I expect I will cry during the pat down.) 

I heard about the Nigerian who flew across the country on an expired boarding pass and without real ID. I have to admit hearing that has me questioning the effectiveness of all of the security measures.  But I imagine the TSA will put something in place soon to prevent a recurrence of this kind of thing.  This sounds like a human error, and human error will happen.  I'm more concerned about the reports that during tests items like guns and bombs and bomb parts get through the checked baggage screening frequently.  I'd really like to see some research done that gives an idea of how many incidents have been prevented by the security measures.  Data like how many/how often guns and other contraband are found and removed before being loaded onto a plane, how many people are not allowed to board due to inappropriate ID, etc.  

Has anyone asked to see the maintenance and testing log on the scanner before going through?  I'm assuming scanners have to have the same maintenance and testing that medical equipment has to have (daily or after every so many uses), and those logs have to be made available to anyone who asks. The testing includes radiation "leakage" measurements around the machine (I'm thinking of the TSA agents and the people standing in line)?  Does anyone know if this kind of testing/maintenance is done on the scanners?  I'm just curious.  

edited because I can't spell correctly this am.  

There is another important point to consider about the radiation from these scanners vs the radiation we're exposed to while in flight.  It has been stated that the scanner radiation is concentrated on our SKIN, rather than throughout the body.  While this might sound good in terms of less radiation exposure of inner organs, what it means is that the skin is receiving a proportionately higher dose of radiation - much higher.  This raises the risk of skin cancer.  If you are a survivor of skin cancer as well as breast cancer, like me, this is not good news.  I lost my mother to skin cancer (melanoma) and have had a number of non-melanoma skin cancers removed myself.  While mom was fighting her melanoma, I learned that there is a  link between melanoma and breast cancer.  Breast cancer survivors are at an increased risk of melanoma.  I don't particularly care about someone seeing my body image on a screen, but I absolutely will not expose my skin to unnecessary radiation. 

One other thing to add that sort of haunted me last trip:  they have the patdown people wait right in front of the scanner.  Makes me wonder if three people who pass through as I wait let off more radiation than if I just went through.

I'm with LtotheK. Travel is as important to me as breathing. I have been a nomad my entire adult life. Okay, even before. Just never been the suburb, picket fence type. I hate TSA policies and machines. It is not reflective of a free country, BUT that is what I have to work with when there & if flying to the States. Are the machines safer than backpacking by myself in countries where I speak only a few words of their language? Are they safer than hiking in mountains? Are they safer than flying? Or driving a car? In the US about 40,000 people are killed every year in auto accidents. Same numbers with firearms. How many Americans die in hijacked planes every year? Or in plane crashes? Not many.

While I feel TSA is an infringement on my basic Constitutional rights, I'm not going to stop traveling, even though I have endured a screaming TSA agent and been shoved by another TSA agent. I too have gone through radiation treatment and it is scary. But travel is so rewarding, both in what we learn about other people and in what we see of this magnificent world. It teaches us that we are only a small part of the whole, and that some people actually do things better and are happier than western people. Not everyone envies us. Surviving BC has made me even more intent on seeing as much of the planet as possible.

So, do I like TSA? No! I think they've got it all wrong. But will I stop traveling? No! Then terror wins. As BC survivors, we have faced terror straight on. Our bodies may not be invincible, but our spirits can be.

I got a response from the TSA about carry on luggage during pat downs.  They said that the policy is to keep the luggage in the traveler's line of site, and if that is not possible then the policy is that an agent keep the luggage in sight and reunite the luggage with the travelor as soon as possible when the screening is complete.  I'm not sure that I am completely comforted by this, but at least I know what the policy is so I can ask how it will be applied when I travel next time. 

Interesting link, Celtic_Spirit.  I wonder what security measures will be put into place to catch this risk?  It'll be interesting to watch this one unfolding.  At the point of needing an MRI I will stop flying!  On second thought, think of how many cancers can be detected very early by MRI scans done for flying!

http://www.propublica.org/article/u.s.-government-glossed-over-cancer-concerns-as-it-rolled-out-airport-x-ray

http://www.scratchingsandsniffings.com/2010/05/remember-the-underwear-bomber.html

Hello, the above link explains that the solution for airport scanners and pat-downs and all that jazz is actually the scent-trained dogs!  USE DOGS NOT SCANNERS.  Ever since body scanners and pat-downs have been used, serious complaints have issued, which include not only those in the original poster's links, but I have at least thought a person's head should not be identifiable in a scan.  These are complaints that have been basically downplayed, since apparently halting terrorism trumps any Constitutional law.  So, I just think instead of continuing to push scanners and whatnot, that in order to help keep terrorism at bay, another plan should be considered.  And the bomb dogs are the perfect plan, and as the above link's article says, having trained dogs with armed servicemen or police all over the airport, and in particular stationed at passenger metal detector lines, eases the minds of many Americans, but disturbs many Arab peoples.  In other words, dogs have benefits. 

[NOTE:  I am adding this edit to be kind.  I like Arabs, Arabian countries, and the Middle East in general.  I do not think an Arab is automatically a terrorist.  And not all Arabs are bothered by dogs.  Terrorists are far and few between, a complex mix in religion and country, but with some information pointing to the vast majority of terrorists indeed being Arab, I made my generalization only as relates to Arab terrorists perhaps being deterred by dogs in airports.  I thought this was obvious, but after thinking things through, I did not want to offend, so felt this clarification was necessary.]

Now, what I want to know is, our Homeland Security people, how come we didn't get dogs with the program years ago?  What's up with that?  I simply cannot guess because I don't know all the reasoning behind the scanners, which there must be SOME reason that Airport Security hasn't switched to dogs.  I mean, they can keep machines they've paid for around, the more artillery on a battlefield, the better.  But save those things for suspicious folks, folks who set off a metal detector three times, or WHATEVER warrants "reasonable search."  Don't scan randomly or everybody when a dog under control of an officer just standing around nearby can do it unobtrusively and more effectively.

And as for pat-downs, the way I understand it used to be, that's for people who have suspicious luggage on the X-ray machine, people who look peculiar either becuz they're carrying drugs around their waist or their eyes are wide with fear becuz they're criminals, or they keep setting off the human metal detector.  Then an official takes them out of view and into the presence of some form of law enforcement, and patted down the way people who visit prisoners in our jails are patted down.  Airport personnel can be trained by the guards at top security prisons in our country to find out how they do the visitors, which includes cancer patients, young people, the elder, and so forth.  Actually, if we are to continue to have lots of pat-downs, it should only be done by a policeman or military personel.  But the choice of who to pat down should remain exactly as it used to be, they are used on people who are deemed to be a security threat.

When all this terrorism stuff got out of hand on account of Bin Laden had all this cash since he was from a wealthy family and so he could afford to create Al Qaeda which blew up NYC and D.C., I recall reading lots of websites about the Middle East to find out what their issues were, and came across what a good airport security system should look like.  The article I read even had a map of this airport, showing just how many armed military were all over the place, and I was stunned.  So different from our airports.  But terrorism has been rampant overseas for quite sometime now.  It took Bin Laden's cash to get to us, basically.  ("Follow the money" from the movie All The President's Men still holds true for figuring out terrorism.)  Anyhow, ever since I saw that website, I have always said this:  "The safest place to be on the planet at any given time is standing right in the middle of an Israeli airport."  Our airports, as compared to those who are under constant threat of terrorism, are STILL so casual, with the exception of the inappropriate scanning debacle.

I didn't meant to write so much.  It all came out in one flow.  But I think every single thing I've said needed saying, and if anyone wants to copy this message and send it to whomever is in charge of all this security stuff at airports, I would allow that.  Like many others here, I cannot do many of the things I used to do.  But I want to say for my sisters if I had had to pass thru an airport during my cancer treatments, I would have wound up in jail, becuz if someone touched me in the throws of chemo, or right after surgery, or in the middle of radiation, I would have begun screaming and not stopped, so disorderly conduct would have been my ticket to be put behind bars.  When I think of not only the embarassment of my recovered sisters who must show their naked bodies, cancer battle scars, things they might not even show their own husbands, but also of the pain of my sisters who have to air travel whilst in treatment who might get a pat-down, or go through a radiation machine when they've been told they cannot have any further radiation to their chest, or survive and recover only to witness my child crying, it makes me shiver.

I'm all for whatever it takes to keep terrorists away from us, and since airports were their delivery system the one time they got to us, it is expected that vigilence would be amped up there.  But if we are to fight a war, and since America is the one country in the world who understands how to bring peace to the people in our lifetimes, in that we fully understand why we must strive to live in peace, we avoid civilian targets, we try to help countries where we've had to come to fight this terrorism war, and we promote diplomacy instead of combat to release tensions from folks who have trouble voicing their problems, then we must ALSO remember our own people, our own civilians, we the people must be respected.  Those scanning methods in total are a violation of Constitutional law, and so for gosh sakes, before our government winds up in court over this and scanners are removed and we're left with no defense, put the dogs in the airports, rescue our furry friends from shelters and train them, and thus leave me, leave my sisters, and just leave us all the Helsinki alone.  GG

Just want to report a positive experience with the TSA. I was flying out of Logan Airport this morning and when I was directed toward the scatter radiation scanner I said I wore prosthetics and wanted to opt out and have a pat-down. The agent was totally nice about it, just asked me to step aside while they called the woman who would do the pat-down. She also was really nice, concerned to help me get my carry-on, shoes, etc. then did the pat-down in a thorough but gentle and respectful manner. I made a point of telling both agents that I appreciated their pleasant atittude, especially since I'd had such a bad experience at another airport. I wanted them to know how I felt and also hoped it would reinforce their inclination to be nice to other passengers in my situation.