So, my wife and I took a quick trip to Florida this past week for our 10 year wedding anniversary. When we showed up at the airport in Knoxville, we were delayed at the ticket counter and then when I got to security, I got the "full treatment". TSA took my shoes and wallet (all I had on me - which also raised suspicion, come to find out), then moved everyone out of the way so I could go through the detectors by myself and then gave me the full pat down and also swiped me for explosives. They then held me (segregated from the other passengers) for about 10 minutes while the TSA supervisor talked on the phone. I asked what was going on, but they would only say that I have been flagged as "security risk".
I figured it was a random occurrence, but the same thing happened yesterday in the Clearwater, FL airport. I ended up talking to the guy that patted me down (while the supervisor was on the phone again) and he was pretty cool about it and basically claimed he didn't know what was going on. When the supervisor came back out (to give me my ID and boarding pass), I asked what was going on and how to avoid this in the future. She was not friendly and recommended I take it up with the Department of Homeland Security.
When we were getting ready to board the plane, seven TSA guys came and stood near the entrance to the jetway at our gate. I was standing in line with my wife when they called our zone to board and the same guy that patted me down came over and pulled me out of line and asked to see my ID. I asked if he was joking (after all, he had been rubbing my groin just an hour earlier). He wasn't joking. He actually apologized, but said that "he had to do it".
I was not worried as I knew I had nothing to hide, but it was unnerving being segregated and treated with such suspicion. Some of the TSA workers actually appeared fearful of me.
My boarding pass had "SSSS" on it. There is some info on the internet on what this means, but I didn't fit most of the criteria for this screening. Anyone else have this pleasant experience? Maybe I should stop posting on PARF.
