As I’ve been following the movement to resist the use of backscatter scanners at airports, and people are being encouraged to report their experiences to the ACLU as well as the general public, I thought I should report my experience with the TSA this morning:
Clear sailing.
Yeah, I’m surprised to report it. At La Guardia, at least, full-body scanners are still optional. They seem to be using them if you set off the metal detectors, which I didn’t, as I tried to dress as non-metallically as possible. There’s a large sign letting you know those scans are optional, and you can opt for a thorough groping ^H^H^H^H^H^H patdown instead.
What I *did* run afoul of was an older roadblock — the size-of-liquids-container rule — as I forgot to chug my smoothie before I hit the gate. They sent me back out, I drank it, I came back through a second time. Still no problems. Though now I’m a bit concerned that I’ve just exposed myself to unfamiliar yogurt cultures, which sometimes turns out to be a bad thing in my intestinal tract’s point of view.
Anderson Cooper’s on the TV right now talking with someone about the scanners. I think I heard her say something about how Americans’ trust was being violated for the sake of these companies making some money.
We’ll see how things go flying from New Orleans to Michigan in a couple of days.
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