[nagdu] Swabbing for Explosive Trace Detection

[Passle Helminski]

Hi,

I am with Jenine and Michael. Always fly with a smile on my face and 
always up beat with the screens.   I fly all of the time.  But when 
they took my dog away to make a phone call to find out what to do 
next....they need more education.

They did thank me for being so nice.

Passle


>I'm with Michael here. I have flown several times in the past 6 weeks and
>have only been swabbed twice. The rule about not touching our dogs is also
>in inconsistently enforced but I always prepare in case I do get one of the
>more "by the book" screeners.
>
>Folks, this whole process is really not that different or horrific. I think
>you get out of the screening what you expect, barring of course the agent
>having a bad day or being overly officious. If you go in dreading and
>worrying or being overly sensitive, you're likely to have an uncomfortable
>experience. If you go in knowing the rules and acting as if you know them
>and do this all the time, things generally go smoothly.
>
>Probably the most amusing experience I had recently was when I was randomly
>chosen for the hand scan. No big deal for me though I do realize it is for
>some people. I look on it as a training opportunity for TSA staff.
>
>So as I'm being scanned, my dog is on a loose leash at what I thought was a
>nice standing Stay. Agents behind us are starting to laugh. What?
>
>As the female agent is choking me over, my dog is actively sniffing her
>over, part matching part. Apparently it was quite funny to watch. We all
>ended up laughing in the end and of course if you laugh at something a dog
>with even the tiniest bit of Golden Retriever in it does, then it's a new
>fun trick! I love my dog. <grin>
>
>Jenine Stanley
>jeninems at wowway.com
>http://www.twitter.com/jeninems
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>Of Michael Hingson
>Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 9:32 AM
>To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
>Subject: Re: [nagdu] Swabbing for Explosive Trace Detection
>
>Hi,
>
>Actually, there are still inconsistencies.  I traveled somewhere in May
>where my hands were not swabbed.  I have yet to see any rule implemented
>%100 of the time.
>