My "opt-out" experience at the aiport.

[The Mad Arab]

Generally I can get away with getting on the metal detector only line, but LAX was all body scanners. It was my first time not having a choice and I was the only one around to opt-out, but I refused to go through. I had to wait a few minutes for an agent to come around and give me the pat down. He showed up and took me to the side. I was expecting some asshole government prick to deal with me and tempt me to mouth off for the groping.

I gotta say, I was surprised. He was actually very cool and the pat down was just a hair more thorough than what I would get going into a night club. In fact, when I worked as a bouncer, I often gave similar pat downs. The agent was very communicative and very polite. It was over quickly and I was on my way. As I gathered my stuff, I told him to watch out for those machines. He said, "I know. I don't trust what they tell us about them." I agreed and said the government isn't telling the truth about the dangers. I could tell he genuinely had concerns and he also acknowledged not wanting to do the pat downs. I could tell this was a guy who really just needs a job.

Don't get me wrong. This isn't an issue of me saying, "Well, it's really not that bad, so let's just accept it." I do feel the scanners and pat downs are violations of our civil liberties and should be stopped. But going through this did give me a new perspective on some things. It's easy to get sucked into the vortex of seeing all TSA agents as perverts and employees of the NWO. Some of them are actually human.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

In any large group of people, you will always find some who don't want to be there. It sounds like you were fortunate enough to encounter a TSA agent who may believe similar to us, but does not believe that he has an option perhaps due to family mortgage what have you.

There are always going to be outliers in any group. Draw a bell curve to include all TSA agents, and at the far end you likely have those who get off on groping people and do whatever they can get away with to demonstrate power and authority by groping, and on the near end you likely have those who hate it and try to make the process as painless as possible. That leaves the middle of the bell curve, of course, who may not get off on groping but will go as far as they perceive their orders requiring.

The entire action being sponsored by the government, of course, is a blatant violation of our Constitutionally guaranteed rights. Nevertheless, it should not come as a surprise that the occasional odd 'not bad' experience with this can and does happen.

And welcome to the forums!

 

[otherone]

"The Man" is actually composed of regular people.

 

[V3n]

"The Man" is actually composed of regular people.

"The Man is people, my friends."

 

[GunnyFreedom]

"The Man is people, my friends."

lmao - Soylent Green?

 

[The Mad Arab]

I really was expecting some extremely uncomfortable crotch grabbing, but he stayed away from there pretty well.

I'm happy to say he did NOT touch my junk.

 

[papitosabe]

so I'm not familiar with the entire debate...so don't scold me...but don't you have the option to not fly? you can drive, ride a bus, walk... if they were to say, strip down naked, then no 99% of people wouldn't fly, and they would change policy...

 

[No Free Beer]

I am flying back to Florida in 2 weeks. I will NOT go through any body scanners at Logan.

I am also going to wear my Ron Paul Revolution shirt.

 

[pahs1994]

I am flying back to Florida in 2 weeks. I will NOT go through any body scanners at Logan.

I am also going to wear my Ron Paul Revolution shirt.

lol they will have you flagged as terrorist as soon as you walk in there

 

[KCIndy]

lmao - Soylent Green?

Ah, Soylent Green, the food that tastes different from person to person.

 

[virgil47]

lmao - Soylent Green?

Or perhaps POGO: "We has found the enemy and he is us".

 

[V3n]

LOL!

This is how I heard it:

 

[Voluntary Man]

For the most part, the TSO's don't want to do (same sex) patdowns. The reason for the patdowns is to intimidate people into volunteering to be passively stripsearched, by the Rapescan machines. If everyone will opt out, the stripsearch machines will disappear (from disuse), and so will the patdowns (because they will have failed).

 

[Danke]

//

 

[GunnyFreedom]

LOL!

This is how I heard it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YzRyhRpod0

I did too, I was just taking the road less travelled.

 

[Anti Federalist]

I am flying back to Florida in 2 weeks. I will NOT go through any body scanners at Logan.

I am also going to wear my Ron Paul Revolution shirt.

If you fly through terminal A, you may also get this:


TSA Behavior-Recognition Program Questions Airline Passengers

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/04/tsa-program-questions-air_n_995171.html


If you do, refuse to answer any questions on 5th Amendment grounds, and say you "Opt Out" of this and the naked scanners.

You'll get a hand pat down, but nothing that could land you in jail on a USC 1001 felony.

 

[Pawl2012]

I had an agent tell me that he, "has MIT students that wont go through that thing." His exact words were, "I don't trust the government one bit".

 

[Lishy]

People who work at the TSA are just people like you and me. Some of them are assholes, and some simply have a family to feed. You think they want to look at the naked bodies of fat women all day, and grope them?

The answer? Ron Paul 2012!

 

[angelatc]

I quit flying when they decided you needed ID to fly - back in the '80's. I'm very disappointed in how many Americans are sucking it up and taking this lying down.

 

[azxd]

To the OP,
It seems that you didn't actually opt out, but instead chose to accept a compromise ... Opting out would be to choose another form of transportation and avoid the process entirely.