BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Body Art Do nipple rings make you an air safety threat?

I can't speak for rings in covered places but I have had other troubles with security. My travels can take me through Seattle, O'Hare, Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, or LAX. Often, in my experience, I find my home airport, Portland, to be the most restrictive. It is difficult because all airports do seem to have the flexibility to follow different rules.

To reduce stress, I just make sure I don't wear any jewelry (except for my wedding ring), take my shoes off even if it is not required, and make sure I'm not wearing any "wires" of any sort until after I reach my destination.

Also, if you are on a one way ticket, count on extra, extra security attention. They'll send you to the "extra attention" line. They don't consider that "normal", and will scrutinze you at baggage, at the gate, and maybe in the plane. Been there, not fun.

I've got another article up from a few years ago on Airports and Body Piercings where I talked about the one time I had to "prove" my piercings. I didn't find it inhumane and I didn't have to actually bare my breasts to anyone.

Why I think the airport screeners were at fault here is because the TSA has not had any official documented body piercing rules or regs prior to this debacle and if they can deal with people with surgical implants (hip pins, plates in skulls) a nipple ring should be a no-brainer.

i remember one time my family and i were flying down to florida. my dad forgot to take his keys out of his pocket. no biggie, right? he set off the metal detector, and pulled out his keys. the airport security guy took his keys and started looking through them. my dad collects bullets, and on his key chain he had a couple. just small .45 bullets. APS confiscated them. the bullets were dead shells, they had no gun powder in them. the bullet had a fuckin hole in it where the key chain was attached and welded on. i always thought that was absolutely retarded.

there was an article on yahoo.com yesterday that i didnt read. i just saw the title and it was something along the lines of celebrities and special treatment from airlines. and i was thinking.. what the [censored]... they cant bother a celebrity cas theyre rich? theyre not even wealthy! just rich. theyre human just like i am. you dont think [famous persons name here] will blow up the plane, but you think i will?

[edit] i just remembered one time i went through security at six flags great adventure with my senior class last year. on my wallet, i carry a 30" long chain thicker than your normal dog chain/leash. the guy told me i had to remove it because it is considered a weapon. he completely skipped over my keys, which had 6 or 7 of those lanyard things... you knwo what im talking about, the 1/2" wide ones you get from school and for what ever you support. i consider my keys a greater weapon than my wallet chain, because the lanyards on top of the trinkets and [censored] on my keys were suprisinly heavier. he also gave me a LOT more [censored] about my pants, which were fuckin hottopic tripp bondage pants and had straps hanging all over the place (not even metal ones, just the cloth ones). i swear they hire the most retarded people to do security.

It's strange. I've had nipple rings for over six years. I've flown to and from the Washington DC area several times a year. I've entered and went through security at many government buildings (including the White House), and not once have I ever been stopped by security because of my jewelry. I wonder what it was about this woman that set off the metal detectors?

Owl, if you read the article, she was picked for special screening and the hand wands are what can detect body piercings.

Oh yeah, I've been wanded. Nothing happened.

I find it funny that since 9-11 the public is all suspect but it was the pololits that hi jacked the planes not passangers. what good does it do to screen the passangers when you cant even screen the people that drive the plane any better then that? I know they have stricter regulations and all but...

to me this is like having security alarms and bars on your house windows and all that junk. You become a prisoner in your own home. we have become prisoners in our own country! we half live in fear of some nameless faceless terorist and we also hate the hassel of flying anywhere so we dont. with the price of gas so high we cant afford to drive a long way so we stay home. anyone else feel trapped but this? or is it just me?

Freespirit,
The hijackers on 9/11 were passengers, not pilots. They had learned how to fly so that they would be able to take over after they had overpowered the airliner's real pilots.

I have noticed huge differences in how the security is handled in different airports. Sometimes I am searched, sometimes nobody is. That nipple ring fiasco seemed more like fun and games for the staff than any sort of real threat management.

funny thing about those passengers. werent they trained by our own military to learn how to fly?

My memory is that they were trained in regular flying schools, not the military.