Wednesday, September 7, 2011
airport pat downs
when given the choice i would choose a body scan over a pat down at the airport any day. when i flew out of new york last week i went through the body scanner. when i left the midwest on monday i was given a pat down and i got the feeling that it was only because i was wearing a skirt. when the airport security woman saw me she decided to do a pat down which was only on my legs. i briefly googled how to avoid an airport pat down and one of the things listed was for women to wear pants , not a skirt at the airport. i do not wear pants, but i do not want to get singled out for a pat down at the airport every time i go through security only because i am wearing a skirt.i think that this is discrimination.
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6 comments:
That just happened to me also. It usually happens if its a longer skirt. Also, it depends on the airport. I wore exactly the same skirt in two airports
1. i got a pat down
2. went through without a second glance
yeah, i thought about that. my skirt went past my knees but wasnt an extra long one. yeah, it depends on the airport. it makes me not want to fly.
so frustrating!
but u gotta do what u gotta do
I tend to wear longer than average skirts because I am in a wheelchair and the skirts ride up a little when you sit down. Also, my back is most comfortable when I can tuck my legs under me and that's impossible in a shorter skirt. (Possible, but not with any sense of tzniyut.)
But it's the wheelchair and the little card that explains exactly what metal is where in in my spine that generally get me put into the "long and private patdown" line at the airport. I haven't traveled since they installed the invasive scanners and I am not sure which I would be less comfortable with, but I am glad that don't have to travel much.
When I was first disabled, they didn't even xray the canes or scan the wheelchair in any way, but things have changed a lot.
I wear longer skirts because I am disabled, often sitting in a wheelchair (where the skirt tends to ride up a bit), and because my back is most comfortable if I can tuck my legs under me when I sit. Impossible to maintain any semblance of tsniyut doing that in a shorter skirt.
I also have a lot of metal in my spine and a little card from my surgeon that explains what is where and what it looks like. That alone gets me into the "long patdown" line.
When I was first disabled, they didn't even xray the canes or scan the wheelchair in any way, but now they practically dismantle it while they check it for explosives.
I used to use a TENS unit and once had security freak out in a major way when I lifted my blouse an inch (in the baggage area) and adjusted one of the wires. I wasn't even traveling that day.
I live near a very small airport (Austin TX) and I always allow at least 30 min more for security than most people do.
wow.it must be awful to be disabled and have to go through all of those pat downs at the airport all of the time. i suppose for anyone with metal in their bodies they will always get the pat down option. my heart goes out to all of you. i only had the short version of a pat down and even that was quite unnerving.
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