ttt

I'm always searched as well, and I'm a white woman traveling with a military id. My husband is in the military and has a top-secret clearance, and he has also been "randomly" searched as well. Lately, I've gotten the impression that the screeners are only searching us "as a show" since they hardly look through our bags.

However, screeners insist on doing really stupid things. Last time I flew, they used the metal detector wand to scan my completely bare legs during a random search. (I was wearing shorts! Where would I hide something-- underneath my skin?). Another screener made me eat a homemade cookie from the tin I was carrying with me as a hostess gift. (Last I heard, terrorists weren't disguising bombs as edible chocolate chip cookies.)

One time, I even observed a security screener looking through my wallet. She had partially removed a $20 bill when her coworker asked me to turn around so she could finish wanding me with the metal detector (and help her friend steal the $20?). I refused to turn around until the other screener was done searching my wallet, and I explained to the screener that by law travelers are allowed to keep their eye on their bags while being searched.