Originally Posted by The_Jazz

You and I had exact opposite reactions to this article. Mine was "further proof that the TSA is full of jackbooted thugs".

I travel for work. A lot. It's a rare week when I'm not in at least 3 different airports. I see the TSA folks a lot, and most of them are pretty good about understanding that most of us what to get out of security as quickly as possible. It's the ones that decide to liven up their days by toying with the traveling public (and make no mistake that it happens a lot) that give them all a bad image.

This is an obvious exception. Why does the TSA get to dictate her personal body modification choices? I honestly can't think of a much more personal decision. Of course she is responsible, but it's not like this is a particularly rare choice. Forcing her to remove semi-permanently implanted jewelry without giving her the option of a patdown (which is apparently procedure) is far too intrusive. The government has essentially told her that her freedom of movement is constrained because of her semi-permanent rings. The charter of the TSA is to keep anything that could be used to hijack or destroy an airplane from boarding it. Nipple rings, even if they were thrown through the engines, couln't do that.

I suppose that the next time I am in Casper, WY and set off the alarm because of the screws in my wrist, I should just cut off my hand? Or should the little old lady behind me detach her replacement hip? These are things implanted in the body! C'mon!