Comments on: There’s just one or two questions I have about nipple rings …

By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:53:34 +0000

I’ve seen a TSA Agent, with my own eyes, open an unopened tampax from a woman’s purse during a secondary screening! I’ve also seen a woman sitting at the gate, waiting for her flight, knitting with 10″ knitting needles. They were plastic, but come on…. they were ten inches, 1/2 inch in diameter with a point and in clear view for all airport personnel and security officers to see. What’s wrong with that picture?

By: Ruby Jackson

Ruby Jackson — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:55:28 +0000

Ha ha, Chicky, I hear you. My pepper spray has gone across the country in my hand bag half a dozen times now, but the yogurt had to be tossed!

By: Jim J

Jim J — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:52:36 +0000

Then entire airport security system is a sham and I believe that the TSA employees know this and enjoy causing problems for passengers as a way of breaking the monotony of a very dull job. I’ll give you an example of why I believe that it is a sham. Several months ago, I was standing in line at a medium size East Coast airport awaiting my turn to go through the metal detector. I observed a man pushing a cart filled with boxes of food and condiments being waved through the inspection area by a TSA employee. The man did not go through a metal detector and the boxes were never checked. After clearing security, I saw the man unloading the cart at a snack bar inside the secure area. There could have been enough plastique explosive in those boxes to blow up the entire terminal. Weapons could also have been hidden in those boxes as well. The TSA folks didn’t seemed to care. Meanwhile, some of the inspectors were making sure that everyone took their shoes off while others protected us by making sure that a 7 year old kid with a name similar to that of a known terrorist could be delayed long enough so that he and his parents would miss their flight.

By: Chicky

Chicky — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:33:12 +0000

I have met many courteous, professional, responsible TSA agents. In fact, I’d venture to say these types make up the majority of agents.

Sadly, it only takes a few to give the entire profession a bad name. Reference my earlier post about the scissors. What I didn’t say was that the agent who went Gestapo on me defintely struck me as the type who either couldn’t get in the police academy, or washed out of training. Like the irrepressible Ernest T. Bass of “Andy Griffith” fame, he wanted a “uneeforum.” I think this is when people run into trouble with TSA agents. The ones who want that uniform, that authority, that power, are generally the troublemakers, I’d say. And it only takes a couple to create mass confusion.

It’s sad when the few cause problems for the many.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:00:14 +0000

Ed,

I believe that Plastic explosives do not set off metal detectors. If someone wanted to smuggle some of these explosives aboard an airplane, they could hide them inside their intestines as drug mules do already and assemble an explosive device once onboard.

If we accept that scenario as a real possibility, we would all have to submit to invasive body cavity searches and/or x-rays before using any public method of transportation. Imagine how enjoyable travel would be then. My point is that all these exaggerated security measures amount to little more than window dressing. All they do is inconvenience travelers while terrorists laugh and find easier points of entry.

We are never going to eliminate all possible terrorist acts. We have to make sure we don’t give up our civil liberties trying to achieve an unobtainable level of security. We do not have to turn our country into a police state to have acceptable security.

By: Lee Paulson

Lee Paulson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:45:53 +0000

Tsk, tsk, Chris. What “type” of person WOULD wear nipple rings? My nephew (who has nipple rings)?

In any case, it’s a personal decision. You or I might find it repulsive, but shame on you for stereotyping. (I have a tattoo that my mother finds repulsive. I really like it a lot.)

Anyway, the TSA went nuts. Oh well. Not the first time, not the last.

By: Ed Kummel

Ed Kummel — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:01:33 +0000

Just to add a contrary viewpoint here…
Imagine that explosives were carried onboard an airplane in a false bra.
Metal detectors detect the total mass of metal that passes through the detector regardless of where it is located.
Scanner goes off, and then you are wanded from the top down. The wand goes off at the chest area…are you going to assume that it’s a nipple ring, or check to see if it’s a bomb?
Now, what I don’t understand is the requirement of her removing the rings…that goes beyond common sense.
Ed

By: SF

SF — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:02:55 +0000

One of your statements bothered me enough to write. You asked why the woman in question was wearing nipple rings through a secuity checkpoint and you wondered why she had mutilated per body, as she didn’t look the type. What type exactly would that be? Not everyone with body piercings has a shaved head with a tattoo of barbed wire around the neck. If you object to piercings in general principal, including ears, I respect your opinion, but if the issue here is the placement of the piercing, I am curious how you differentiate.I have body piercings and have passed with no notice through airport security many times. The amount of metal isn’t enough to set them off, although it will be noted during a wanding. I am an experienced business traveler, I speak regularly at conferences, wearing a suit and looking like any other business professional. As I know you’ll recognize from my email, I also contribute to this site. And yet I’m also the “type” to have a piercing.

By: Linda

Linda — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:09:36 +0000

Even if these TSA Agents just felt (excuse the pun!) that they were doing their job, when Ms. Hamlin needed a pair of pliers to remove the nipple ring it might have assured the agents that the rings were not a security threat! My observations tell me that once TSA Agents like these sink their teeth into something, they never back down. There are a lot of friendly, helpful, considerate and professional TSA Agents. How do you get “several” agents in one small airport like this to all agree on such an extreme course of action? I’m sure it’s not the first time these people overstepped their bounds. Also, I hope Ms. Hamlin doesn’t develop an infection given the non sterile environment she experienced. I view the removal of a nipple ring with pliers as a medical procedure she was forced to perform herself. I’d sue and I expect that every air traveler on a jury would find these TSA agents guilty as sin!

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:34:13 +0000

This is obviously not about safety. This is abuse of power. The TSA officers abused their power. There was no need to embarrass this poor woman and to force her to remove her nipple rings. All the people involved in this unnecessary search should be fired immediately and punished for their behavior. Doesn’t the TSA have better things to do than get sexually aroused from groping and leering? How does this help our national security? This is what we have given up our civil rights for, so a bunch of TSA perverts can abuse their power at will? I wonder how many real terrorists pass by unmolested while the TSA employees entertain themselves patting down “suspects”.

By: Claire Walter

Claire Walter — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:23:26 +0000

Chicky – You and I must have had the same screener. Early in the Age of Screening, a TSA operative confiscated a teeny pair of blunt-tipped sicissors from a sewing kit I had liberated from some hotel. I’d never opened the kit and didn’t realize that I was packing such a lethal object.

Claire @ http://travel-babel.blogspot.com

By: Chicky

Chicky — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:39:57 +0000

Must be the same crew who wouldn’t let me on a flight because of a teeny pair of manicure scissors that came as a cosmetics freebie (they wouldn’t cut sewing thread, much less skin). The blades were 1/2 inch long. Seriously. But my uncle, who was waiting until I cleared security, had to come and get them. However, my container of pepper spray passed without a second look.

By: pierced

pierced — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:05:12 +0000

1) Nipple rings aren’t dangerous unless you snag them on something. Then they are only dangerous to you.
2) Nipple rings are an adornment, like earrings, but in a more sensitive area.
3) I have rather large stainless steel (2 gauge) earrings in my ears. I have never had a problem going through a metal detector in an airport. A few years prior to 9/11 I had over a dozen body piercings, of which, three were visible while clothed. I never had a problem going through airport metal detectors then, and with only four piercings now, I’ve never had a problem.

The issue isn’t the body jewelry, it’s the power trip the TSA screeners were on and the need for security theater. I hope her lawsuit is successful. I can tell you from experience, removing nipple rings can be a delicate procedure, best done with some lubricant and a lot of care. For some people the piercing never heals correctly and it can be extremely painful to remove without the proper equipment.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:45:19 +0000

Thanks for all the comments about this. I will remind my grandmother about her need to remove her metal hip!

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:40:30 +0000

Another question: would a male passenger in the same position have been treated the same way?

Some men do have piercings in very delicate areas, after all. I would love to see how that would handled at a TSA security check point. I can’t see a male passenger volunteering so eagerly to have a pat-down of the area or to show the piercing to an agent. I also think a male agent would be far too squeamish to say “here’s a pair of pliers, take it out!” (How many of you are cringing at the thought?)

My hopes are that this case will call attention to serious abuses so that something can be done about them. I’d hate to see this all disappear with a big fat pay-out.