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December 03, 2005
Pat Down -- to Help Make the Passengers Feel "Secure"
TSA just announced new "pat down" procedures in airports. I am looking at my paper copy of the Washington Post and it has a picture showing exactly which areas are off-limits (the picture is not included in the online article). The news is, apparently, it is now okay for the screeners to touch the back of the passenger's thighs.
A new pat-down procedure calls for more attention to arms and legs, including touching the back of the mid-thigh.
So, attention, attention terrorists. You are now allowed to hide those dangerous objects also in your mid-thigh. Just make sure not to place them in all the clearly illustrated areas that you will not be pat down. We mean business.
Seriously, do these pat downs have any purpose other than make passengers feel more "secure"? (Besides the occasional inappropriate groping?)
Posted by zeynep at December 3, 2005 04:19 PM
Comments
Excellent question. Just a few days ago my wife & I were subjected to special questioning and searches because our flight had been cancelled and the only way we could get home in time was to buy tickets on another airline--you get searched if you buy a one-way ticket on the day you travel. I suppose the assumption is that terrorists are too cheap to pay for a round-trip ticket they'll never use. (Doesn't Homeland Security remeber that you can't take it with you?)
Posted by: Michael Steinberg at December 6, 2005 10:50 PM