Dear Mr. TSA Agent....

lhcooper

Unless or until you have a degree in obstetrics, don't tell the pregnant lady who has politely asked to opt out of walking through your fancy new machine that it is safer than getting an ultrasound. She *will* complain to your supervisor.

GracieBlue

Yup.  I got pretty much the same response.  Then I started sobbing uncontrollably (hormones) which scared the living $hit out of the agent.  I got a pat down with no other questions VERY quickly after that!

carladillon

Wow...so sorry they were douches.  I flew recently and requested the pat down and they were happy to oblige - no lip.  Guess I should consider myself lucky.

jennypasadena

That sucks!  And it's amazingly inappropriate!  I've flown several times, and in all cases, all I had to say was "I'm pregnant" and they ushered me either to a plain metal detector or a pat down area.  No questions asked.  And most of the time, I didn't even have to say "I'd like to opt out."

ReeceFamily

Oh - thank you for the reminder.  I have to fly tomorrow and I want to be prepared to handle just such stupidity.

stever

Seriously?

lauriedupuis

I was flying internationally every 3 weeks for work prior to getting pregnant and found a lot of resistance when I opted out of the scanner every time.  Sometimes they would put me aside and make me wait 15-20 minutes for the pat down and complain the whole time about people being stupid thinking these machines may be harmful.  It depends on where you go, of course, in Canada I had no issue whatsoever and they were very polite, as Canadians most generally are.  However I have nothing nice to say about the TSA agents I encountered routinely for over 3 years in New Orleans, Newark, and Philly.   

 

To think they would question a pregnant woman doesn't surprise me much as I think the education requirements to work for TSA are nil.  Not to say there are some good ones, but the majority I don't think would even qualify for a job in a convenience store.

Always stand your ground, it's your right to refuse and they MUST comply.   

lhcooper

Oh, I did stand my ground, and I always have. I won't go through those things even when I'm not pregnant, on principle. But this guy yesterday was just the worst -- condescending and rude, not to mention totally inappropriate. To her credit, the female agent who did my pat-down apparently complained on my behalf before I myself went to speak to the supervisor. I was additionally surprised because the TSA at our small local airport are usually super nice. 

Jumpin4joy

Thanks for posting this.  I am travelling internationally soon and was wondering about the scan.  I haven't done any reading on this (ashamed!) Does anyone know what the risks are or is it that we don't know what the risks are?

lhcooper

It's that we don't know what the risks are.  However, I've read a lot about various folks more in the know than I am simply refusing to use them (pregnant or not); there have been links to articles, etc, I just haven't saved them so I can't pass them on.  I also just don't trust the TSA to have their devices set on the right frequency (how often, and how strictly, are they maintained, for example?), etc.  And in the absence of long-term safety studies....I just won't go through them.  Plus, I just object to the whole thing.  It's a "display" of safety procedure more than it is a real procedure for keeping us safe (imo). 

lauriedupuis

lhcooper:

It's that we don't know what the risks are.  However, I've read a lot about various folks more in the know than I am simply refusing to use them (pregnant or not); there have been links to articles, etc, I just haven't saved them so I can't pass them on.  I also just don't trust the TSA to have their devices set on the right frequency (how often, and how strictly, are they maintained, for example?), etc.  And in the absence of long-term safety studies....I just won't go through them.  Plus, I just object to the whole thing.  It's a "display" of safety procedure more than it is a real procedure for keeping us safe (imo). 

 

Agree 100%

Jumpin4joy

I have gone through the scans in the interest of time before.  Now I am definitely just going to submit to the pat down.

benniferbaby

Wow, I hadn't even considered this. What a jerk!  Glad I don't have any flight plans coming up ... and our small regional airport usually has nicer TSA agents also. But most of those guys just leave their personalities at home. I often think it's part of the job description to be a douche.

ras26

While I agree that you shouldn't be treated rudely, and it is certainly your right to refuse the airport scan without comment, the scanners really are quite safe.  For the record, I also agree that TSA personnel aren't necessarily Harvard educated.  However, in a coast-to-coast flight, you are exposed to 0.01?0.03 mSv of natural background radiation, and the dose limit for a single scan with the machine is 0.00025 mSv. You are going to be subject to more radiation in flight than during the scan.

A person receives more radiation from naturally occurring sources in less than an hour of ordinary living than from one screening with any general-use X-ray security system.

This link is pretty informative.