Is Airport Security Overly Cautious?

The Transportation Security Administration stopped a woman boarding a flight in Lubbock, Texas, and forced her to remove her nipple rings with a pair of pliers. Mandi Hamlin, 37, says the incident happened in February as she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas, Texas. She considers the demand 'cruel and unnecessary' and is asking TSA for an apology.

Years ago, a similar incident happened to me. I was flying from Seattle to Los Angeles and as I went through the metal detector, it buzzed. I removed all change, keys, etc. and went through again. It buzzed again. One of the security people took me aside and "wanded" me. That buzzed too.

The security woman started asking me questions about anything else metal that I might have on me. I was in slacks and a blouse that had nothing metallic on or in them. She could see this but still had me sit down and wait.

One of the security people told me they were sending for a female officer so they could strip search me. Strip search? I was horrified. I was a young Caucasian blonde who had nothing to hide, and I was fully cooperating with security. But strip search? I guess they had to be sure. Soon a woman arrived and took me to a small room nearby. I was asked to remove my clothing.

As I was removing my clothes, it suddenly dawned on me what it was. I had an underwire in my bra (put there by the manufacturer for better support). I laughed and told the security officer what I thought was causing the security alerts. She said "uh hmm" and continued to watch me remove the rest of my clothes.

She could clearly see I had no metal on me, except for my underwire bra. I was not required to remove the underwires from my bra. I made my flight but felt humiliated and embarrassed.

This did not happen after 9-11. This happened in the '70's when I was in college.

Airport security has to make judgment calls all the time. Sometimes their judgment may be a little faulty, but as they say, better safe than sorry. I was in New York on 9-11. Someone I knew, Michael Horrocks, was the first officer on the second plane, United flight 175. Airport security cannot be tight enough to suit me.