For women going places

Which is the lesser of two airport security evils?

With holiday travel gearing up and airline passenger stress at an all time high, complaints are growing against the enhanced security pat-downs which can focus directly on your private areas.

The TSA says via its blog that a very small number of passengers end up needing a pat-down, whether to resolve an alarm set off walking through the metal detector or if someone opts out of using the body image scanner. But it still is a concern when you’re heading to the airport, wondering if you’ll be an unlucky one. I’ve had both and frankly neither was that bad.

But what it comes down to is that it’s a balancing act between safety and privacy. Obviously, no one wants to be or should be man-handled or have their private parts on display for everyone to see. But that’s airplane travel in 2010. As long as the terrorists continue to concoct schemes of death and destruction against Americans using planes, we have to be diligent. We may not like the security measures but they’re for our safety in the long run. We have to weigh the inconvenience and embarrassment against the safety and well-being of ourselves and our loved ones. I know what tips the scale for me.

That said the TSA shouldn’t have carte blanche. Sensitivity training should be mandatory for all security agents. And there has to be a Body Scan 2.0 machine that detects weapons without revealing where that extra piece of pumpkin pie decided to settle.

See you on the road,

Kathy Ameche

Traveler-in-Chief

Labels: air safety, airline passengers, airport security, body image scan, pat-down, TSA