3 ms·
The Humiliating History of the TSA
- LtWorf 4y agoI'm disabled and never been in USA. Never been able to take a plane without being patted down. However most times I am not asked for ID for the entire trip. The absolute worse experience was in London, where the guard felt the need to put his hand inside my unbuttoned trousers to feel my butt. Second worse was in Basel, where they actually took me to a room to strip down. First time I travelled with my girlfriend she was very confused at me being stopped and talking with 2 or 3 guards. She didn't know that's how it normally goes for me.
- shaftway 4y agoMy wife has mobility issues, so she usually requests a wheelchair. At TSA she's usually asked if she can stand and walk a short distance. She can, so she walks through the metal detector (not the backscatter x-ray), the airport personnel pushing her is let through with the wheelchair, and it's done. No extra steps or extra screening. Her bags are subject to the usually screening, but nothing extra. We usually get to go through the metal detector too. I 100% assume this is because she's using an airport-provided wheelchair which is designed to be easy to visually scan, with airport-provided personnel pushing it, and her under their direct supervision at all times. If she had her own wheelchair I assume it would be a much harder ordeal.
- poulsbohemian 4y agoTo me the tell was when Pre-Check was introduced. For a fee, we'll revert to the airport security process being exactly the same as it was pre-9/11, IE: empty your pockets but otherwise quick, efficient, slide through one machine and you are done. The only difference between the people in the different lines is how much money they were willing to pay for convenience.
- fatnoah 4y agoThere's some fingerprinting and a background check as well. I'm not sure why that negates the need for some of the checks, but that's how it is.