Let’s start with the bad shall we? I arrived at Houston Hobby with time to spare and then some. I fretted over leaving the conference early, but did not know how many stops the SuperShuttle would take. Turns out Joy and I were the only ones on the SuperShuttle. I corresponded with Joy before Mom 2.0, but did not meet her til the bus ride to Houston Hobby Airport.
But, back to my wanding incident… I sat outside the airport and repacked my bags. I checked two suitcases as I came home with 2 bags of swag. Once I was packed, I checked in to Southwest. Lurve Southwest, but really was not impressed by the hired SkyCaps…abrupt, unhelpful.
Once in the airport I headed to security. So began my mini Comedy of Errors or nightmare…take your pick. I remembered to place the laptop flat. I filled 4 bins with swag, laptop, shoes, and my Childs Play PR bag of folders, power cables, and coupons. Yes, I am one stylish traveler. I had one tiny bin for my camera and phone. Walked through the security gate slowly and surely and you guessed it the buzzer went off. I was struggling to see what had made the buzzer go off. I was wearing underwear, bra, socks, shirt, and pants with no rivets. Ah…the sunglasses! But could the sunglasses really set off the alarm?
I placed the sunglasses in a tiny bin along with a few pieces of paper. I was nervous and really did not want the buzzer to go off again. And you guessed it….beep, beep, beep. Damn! I was nonplussed.
“Step in to the glass booth.” Great… I looked around and NO ONE made eye contact with me, which was just as well as I was mortified. The mail guard checked me…nothing. The female guard arrived with an enormous wand. I was told to step on the mat with the foot prints.
Her first question. Have you ever been stopped before? I said Yes but did not elaborate. She did not need to know that I pushed my mother’s wheeled walker through the security checkpoint at Heathrow unaware that my mother had stashed two bottles of water and toothpaste! Ugggh!! I was wanded. I felt sick as I was sick with a stomach bug, but very aware that security people don’t have any patience with infractions.
The wanding went on and on at Hobby. Up and down. Then I was patted. I have to say that the female guard was very gentle and did not make ey contact with me.
As I was undergoing the fully clothed strip search, all 4 large bins and 2 tiny bins are piled up at the end of the conveyor belt. I can see my cell phone teetering on the edge. I wanted to run over and catch it, but would have been arrested. None of the other passengers were helpful…all ignored my stuff. But enough bins were removed that the tiny bin with my phone righted itself.
The culprit…my underwire bra. Great….now I know what not to wear on my next flight.
I’ve had this happen before, only it was the snap on my jeans. The did the whole pat-down, almost strip search thing and I was so embarrassed! I even had to unsnap my pants and let the lady feel around… GAH!
Now I am VERY careful about what I wear for flights. No blue jeans with snaps/grommets, no underwire bra, no jewelry except my wedding band, etc. It’s a pain to prepare oneself, but sure is worth it when you can walk right through!
You and 90% of the female population.. Just how sensitive do they have to make the metal detectors?
I’ve gone through airports with some very nice security staff. Usually small airports. Sadly, I live near Chicago – big airports and the staff is mostly not nice.
I had a similar experience to yours in the Las Vegas airport with a new-to-the-job person doing the search. She was very slow and kept asking me, “is it okay if I touch you here?” “is it okay if I do this?” I was MORTIFIED. It was HORRIBLE. I asked her nicely to stop asking me, because obviously it WASN’T okay, but I DIDN’T have a choice. She said I could move to Las Vegas (where I was visiting) and never fly again. Sheesh! Goes down as one of the ten most frustrating experiences of my life.
Moral of my story…. I don’t wear a bra through security anymore. I’m old, it’s not a pretty sight and they deserve every eyeful, hehehe.
Very nice site! is it yours too