Getting the pat down

So on the way home from Florida, I opted out of the full body scanner at Tampa airport. I have my own reasons for this, but I did read an article on it a few weeks ago on CNN.com that I found interesting, which of course I can't find now to link up. Basically the article was by a journalist that was traveling and saw the man in front of her opt out. She chased him down after security and asked why would he make that choice. It turns out the guy is a oncology doctor specializing in radiation therapy. He just said he gets enough of it at work, and although the TSA claims it is safe, why add any extra radiation? This made some sense to me...after all, how long does the pat down take? A few minutes to avoid a little radiation? Why not?

Well, I did find out one thing. If you opt out, at least in my case, you have to go stand by yourself like a pariah and wait for a (same gender, in my case female) TSA officer to come give you the pat down. I waited 15 minutes, which may not seem to long, but when you have to catch a flight and people are waiting for you (my husband was struggling to put all of our stuff back in the bags and open the stroller with a sleeping 4 year old), it seems like an eternity.

The TSA officer did ask me if I wanted a private screening and I said no, thinking how invasive would it get? The woman was quick and thorough and explained all the steps to me, but it is somewhat embarrassing. They check your hair, lift up your shirt, feel your boobs and in the waistband of your pants, down your legs, into all the "crevices". You then sit and show them the bottom of each of your feet. That only takes about 5 minutes and then the TSA officer goes and scans their gloves in a machine. Mine came back clean so I was good to go.

Now that I've done it, I will probably opt out again. Hopefully by then the process will be more streamlined and people won't get made to feel like an outcast.