Travel, Backscatter Imaging & Opting Out

As the CEO of B2BGateway www.b2bgateway.net, I travel on a regular basis. One of the difficulties while traveling is the improved security procedures. Yes, we all want to be safe, but security measures can often be intrusive and irritating. Much discussion has been given recently to the controversial backscatter imaging, and I have been through the machines several times. After doing some research on the radiation received, the “naked” images generated and the overall inconvenience of the process, I found out that passengers have the right to Opt-Out of backscatter.

Recently, while standing in a metal detector line with all my belongings in their respective trays, the backscatter attendant called me over. I pretended to not hear him, but he persisted. He insisted that I come over to his line, at which point I told him “I choose to opt-out”. I assumed he would say, “Oh that is fine, carry on with the metal detector, and have a great day”. He did not.

The backscatter attendant yelled to the other security employees, “WE HAVE AN OPT OUT!” He told me to leave my belongings on the metal detector line and stand in the center of the, now closed, backscatter line with my arms extended. The attendant put on a pair of purple rubber gloves, (which is never a good sign), and we proceeded to have a very intimate 15 minutes, in plain view of everyone in security.

When the groping was over, my next stop was explosives screening. Two security representatives unpacked my entire suitcase and briefcase. All of my clothing, suits, shoes, undergarments, etc. were spread out onto tables for full viewing. Ten minutes went by as security swabbed my belongings for explosives. When they were done they said, “You are free to go, pack up your possessions.”

Opting-out added over 30 minutes to the security experience, and although some might find the groping gratifying, I prefer to have candlelight and wine before I am touched that intimately. I recently read that this Wednesday, (the busiest US air travel day) is National Opt-Out day, in protest of the backscatter machines. If it took me an extra 30 minutes to get through the security process, please plan accordingly if you are heading home for Thanksgiving. With that said, I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Make sure to have your Credit and Debit Cards topped up!!! Black Friday & Cyber Monday are fast approaching. Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The term dates back to at least 1966, although its usage was primarily on... the East coast. The term has become more common in other parts of the country since 2000. Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November. According to Reuters, in 2007 135 million people participated in the Black Friday shopping rush.
The term "Black Friday" may have originated in Philadelphia, where it was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).
Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday immediately following Black Friday, the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The term made its debut in 2005 in a Shop.org press release entitled "'Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year". According to the Shop.org/BizRate Research 2005 eHoliday Mood Study, "77 percent of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially last year on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a trend that is driving serious online discounts and promotions on Cyber Monday this year (2005)". In 2006, Shop.org announced that it launched the CyberMonday.com portal, a one-stop shop for Cyber Monday deals. In 2009, comScore reported that consumers spent $887M online on Cyber Monday (excluding travel), the second highest spending day of 2009.