Airport sighting (border sighting too)

[infinitemonkies]

I recall reading a little while ago about a large black man in his 40s who was arrested in Florida for an outstanding warrant from New York.

He was held for 3 days before they were able to determine that while he did have the same name as the offender, he was not in fact the petite, 20 year old, tattooed, caucasian woman, whose description was included with the warrant.

[Damien]

I recall reading a little while ago about a large black man in his 40s who was arrested in Florida for an outstanding warrant from New York.

He was held for 3 days before they were able to determine that while he did have the same name as the offender, he was not in fact the petite, 20 year old, tattooed, caucasian woman, whose description was included with the warrant.

That should have been bliding obvious... just like the definition of what 'IBO' stands for on the documents that had the guard in SF suspicious - it was written right underneath.

I apologise to anyone from San Fransisco, I am sure your city is cool - but I will never go through that airport again - will not tolerate being abused like that for no reason.

[Dreamstalker]

See, and I felt more comfortable having my passport with me at all times when we went to Scotland last week.

Internationally I'll carry it with me everywhere, here I prefer not to (there have been a couple purse-snatchers sighted, and a state ID is fairly easy to replace. Passports, not so much.

[smileyeagle1021]

Oh, that reminds me: I got frisked in Salt Lake City at the security checkpoint before my flight home!

That was probably because I had my wallet in my front pocket and it created sort of a suspicious bulge.

you have restored my faith in security at Salt Lake International... I HATE HATE HATE flying out of that airport, because I know that any smart terrorist who has done his homework will know how lax security is (or at least has been) there.
I've before been waved through without them even looking at my ID, much less actually checking it...
I've gotten on the plane violating the liquids rule (not intentionally, just slipped my mind that I keep lens cleaner solution in my laptop case, which while within the 3 ounce limit should still be taken out of the laptop case... not stopped once for leaving it in, not even had it checked).
I've seen TSA techs that aren't even looking at the x-ray machine as luggage goes by and I can't remember the last time that I was stopped for leaving my belt on (it does have a large enough buckle that it should register on the metal detector).

Now, I'm not saying that we should go to such extremes that some people have posted about, but honestly, ya could at least check my ID and make sure that reading on the metal detector really is just a belt buckle, or I don't know LOOK AT THE FRACKING X-RAY MACHINE

[Pagan]

Internationally I'll carry it with me everywhere, here I prefer not to (there have been a couple purse-snatchers sighted, and a state ID is fairly easy to replace. Passports, not so much.

Heh, they'd have a hell of a time getting my purse. I wear it diagonal across my body, kind of like a messenger bag.

But the only time we really hear anything of purse snatchers on the west side is around Christmas out in the parking lots.

[WanderingSaint]

Dont' even get me STARTED on this. Let's put it this way, I am a painfully white tiny little girl who is a 'pure' Canadian Newfoundlander. Problem is when I was 9 years old my family moved to Saudi Arabia, where I also got my passport.

So I'm a painfully white Canadian girl with a Saudi Arabian issued Canadian passport. Who travels a LOT.

Come the 9/11, I'm 15, and I will NEVER be able to pass through a checkpoint of any sort again wihtout trouble for the forseeable future.

I pack my bags a specific way so they are EASY to search, and I can figure out if they have made off with anything right away. I wear clothes that are EASY on the mettle detector, and EASY to take off, including not wearing a bra (see bellow for the reason for THAT!).

Here are some of the things that have happened at check points (ALL COUNTRIES, not just US... though they are the WORST) since I as 15:

-Searched baggage, every time
-Searched baggage twice
-Swabbed every single thing in my bag, including opening my dirty underwear bag
-Walked through the mettle detector FIVE TIMES because it DIDN'T go off
-Always wanded
-Those eyeball scanner things in the New York international customs line
-Had someone try to seize my jewelry, was not having that shit, argued till I got a supervisor over, and they gave it back (It was PLASTIC JEWELRY)
-Had to go into the side rooms and take my pants off for them to search four times (seperate incidences, one was the one with the five times through the mettle detector -_-)
-Had my clean underwear baggy disapear from my carry on
-Had a large black woman with press on nails sneak up behind me while I was talking to the guy checking through my bag and shove her hands up my bra (terrified the shit out of me, I was 16, no consent was given. The shreik I made brought over security. THAT was a fun day -_-)
-Entirely strip searched in a side room twice (and no, so far, NO cavity search, thank above!)

-Had one guy while passing through florida try to make a reason to make off with my laptop. Instead I logged in for him and he had a look. He asked me what each folder contained before he clicked on it, like some sort of truth test. He checked through several folders before this happened:
"What does the 'Male Figure' folder contain?"
"All of my gay porn." -_-
".... Really?"
"Yes." ^_^
"... Your a lesbian?"
"Nope. Its all guys in there" ^_^ (does 'male figure' not give that away?)
"...... *skips folder* What does the 'RP' folder contain"
"Story writting."
"Okay, here's your laptop back"
.... He hadn't even finished half of my 'Documents' folder, but I wasn't about to complain.

-I've had bottles and food siezed (before the 'must fit in one baggy' rule happened)
-Been detained for a half our twice for questions, and once for two hours upon arrival and transfer to another flight for apparently no given reason other then they thought my passport was suspicious and I was travelling alone through europe at 15 (I was returning home after going to an arts scholarship program).


... All of these things didn't happen seperatly, most of them happened together. They were always uber nice and freindly until they saw my passport. Then things went down.

I've been back in Canada for five years now, and I am applying for my new passport, as a painfully white Canadian girl in Canada. I have a feeling traveling will get MUCH easier. -_-

[Nohbody]

And the sad thing is that most of what's mentioned in this thread is more like security theater (or theatre, for the Commonwealth types ), not actual security.

More on that line, however, dips into fratching territory, I think, so I'll quit while I'm... well, not too far behind, anyway.

[MoxisPilot]

My husband doesn't shave often, and carries a militay-style pack.

He's never been stopped.

He's also the whitest white boy there ever was.

I suspect this is profiling...and there's not a whole lot that can be done. I'm really sorry it happened to you guys.

[Damien]

should be fun when I next ome to the US (not via SF) - I have to have a walking cane - I have a collapsible carbon fibre walking cane...

[InsanityInc]

Thank gord I wasn't with him when he pulled this.

My nit-witted ex decided while he was driving through the border check in Larado (s/p?) to answer the guard's question as "No hable Ingles."

He got to visit with them for a while.

[WanderingSaint]

okay, that just made me giggle. I mean really.

And yes Nohbody, it is more 'theater' then actual security, which is the worst part really. I'm actaully THRILLED when I see the security peeps are tired and haggard looking when I get in line, becasue that means they are more then likely lazy enough to just check my bags and wand me.

I'm almost looking forward to going t Europe again. Some of their airports have those neat body scan things. Though I'm going to be going on my Canadian issued Canadian passport, so I probably will just get passed and I won't get to play with the fun stuff .

All of this hasn't depreciated my love of travel though. Unlike many, I just adapt and keep going. It is the destination I give a hoot about anyway and that my freind is the awesom positivie side.

[ditchdj]

The way I see it, if they wanna just treat scruffy white guys like me like criminals whenever I wanna fly, then I wont fight it or "fratch". I just won't fly.

[jjllbb]

I used to date a Muslim man.

He was ALWAYS being pulled over by the police. And sometimes their reasons didn't quite seem to add up. For example, he once pulled into the exit-only side of a parking lot on a late night subway run. Fair enough. Only trouble was, we'd been meeting each other there and I accidentally did the SAME thing (since it wasn't clearly marked) not a minute after he did.

He got pulled over, I didn't hear a word about it (even though i parked RIGHT next to him during his conversation with the cop). And he wasn't just pulled over, they actually got DOGS to circle his car, sniffing for things.

The scariest part was one night when a we were stopped and in the middle of the cop's questions he started yelling at my boyfriend "Show me your hands! show me your hands!" when my boyfriend's hands were already clearly in the air. I thought we were going to get shot. We both kept our hands outstretched and kept saying our hands were already up. Just scary.

Bottom line though, i REALLY respect law enforcement of all kinds. I know that for the most part, they're just trying to keep US and themselves safe.

[PepperElf]

and yes my boyfriend is military - just retired.

as for me... i dont get scanned much myself.

last time i flew i popped the magic number for baggage search... but if anything i think i shocked the TSA more than anything else cos my bags were tactical military bags. I was carrying Mollex in black with a E&E in black (the old version) strapped to it.

what surprised them i think ... it wasn't that the giant backpack they thought i had on was actually 2 back packs, but how freakin heavy they were, and that after they were done searching... i put them back together and threw them up on my back and clipped the belt.


the only time i think i got scanned when it wasn't random was when i wore a santa hat on a flight... but hey it was christmas!

[crazylegs]

This thread started well, then descended into fratching...

Shame really.