Frequent Flyer + Prude = Not Good!

I fly all the time it seems. More than some. Less than others. I'd say I fly somewhere at least 3 times a year. Next year alone I have 4 half marathons planned (as of now) and they are all in different states. So there are 3 flights right there. With all this talk of the new TSA rules I can't help but blog about it -- like tons of other people are, no doubt.

First off, here is a story of an experience I had in 2007.

My mom, step-dad and I were flying home from Orlando via Denver. Apparently the weather in Denver was so bad that our flight out of Orlando was delayed multiple hours. By the time we got to Denver the airport was essentially closed. We were all sent to a counter to get tickets worked out for the rest of our journey home, and given coupons for a near-by hotel. Bad news is, as if being stranded wasn't bad enough, our luggage was in limbo. That means we just had our carry-ons and the disgusting little complimentary toiletry kit they gave us. It was snowy outside. We were in skirts and summer tops (shorts for my step-dad). And flip-flops. Lovely.

The next morning there is a huge fiasco with our flights and they had booked me on some flight earlier in the morning - but never told me. Anyway security .... we weave through the longest line ever. My step-dad and I get through with no problem, but my mom is pulled aside and frisked. Great. At the gate my step-dad and I get pulled aside and told to wait for security agents to come. What?? 

This huge woman and a man come along. In front of everyone they go through our carry-on baggage. Yes, my dirty undies were in there. Thank goodness I had my swimming suit, so I could at least kind of feel like I had something fresh on. And then we were frisked in front of everyone. It was so humiliating. I politely asked why we had been singled out. She wouldn't answer me. My  mom commented about how apparently if you politely ask a reasonable question they don't have to answer you.  So the scary woman replied.

"You left the airport. We don't know what you brought back in with you. Why did you change your tickets?"

WHAT???? Um, did you forget that storm?? Tons of canceled flights? Forced to leave? Is all of this just vanished from your memory? And how many of the other thousands of travelers just entered the airport? How am I ANY different?  

The last 3 people to board, we got the stink eye from everyone on the plane. I know bad words came from my mouth when I was walking down to the plane. We seriously felt like the Griswolds. It was humiliating.

Cut to getting home and emptying our bags. What did my mom find in her carry-on? An obscene amount of Disney hotel shampoo that I had thrown in her carry-on without her knowledge. All these security checks and they never noticed all of these "illegal" liquids we carried on?? Nice, TSA. Nice.

And now it seems that people will randomly be chosen to either basically feel like they are standing there naked for _____ (who really knows??) to see. OR, if you are prude like me you can opt for the extreme "pat down". But then if you are prude like me do you really want to feel like you could just cancel your annual pap smear appointment because some TSA agent is going to be feeling you up in great detail anyway?  

I've read where people are thinking we should stop flying as a form of protest to this completely humiliating new form of "security". Well okay -but I am already flying in February. And I don't feel like driving from Oregon to Anaheim or Las Vegas either. I do want to travel by train sometime, but I don't really know the logistics of that. I don't know. It just seems extreme. We saw a woman in her 80's getting frisked once. Really? Because someone's great grandma is a huge security risk? 

I think I'm still formulating opinions on it all. What would I do if I am randomly selected? I hate confrontation so I feel like I'd probably just cry while they look at my naked body. And I call BS on them when they say it doesn't really show much detail. Really?? Because I've seen quite a few of the photos that have been posted, and you pretty much see EVERYTHING. I don't even like to see myself naked, let alone have some stranger sitting in a gross chair at a computer screen see me naked. I mean my own doctor has to fight to get me into a paper robe ... and he's my doctor!

What do you all feel? Any opinions? Thoughts? Supportive of the new policy? Against it? I suppose I have thought about it because at the airport I am unlucky. I am always pulled for random things. THIS is one thing I don't want the displeasure of going through.

(I did not proof-read this because I feel lazy, so I apologize if there are tons of glaring errors!)