Woman told remove bra for security

[Hepburn]

Bra check upsets court visitor

A Bonners Ferry woman says she was humiliated when security guards at the federal courthouse in Coeur d'Alene told her she'd have to remove her underwire bra to get inside.

Lori Plato said she was going into the courthouse for a court hearing Sept. 20 when the metal detector went off as she passed through security.

"When I walked through, the gentleman said, "'Do you have an underwire bra on?'." Plato said. "I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'You have to remove it.' "

But there was nowhere private to remove her bra, she said. The guards suggested she go out to her car to do it.

Instead, Plato — who describes herself as "not petite" — said she removed her bra while her husband tried to shield her from view of others in the crowded lobby by holding up his coat.

She said she had to put the bra on a conveyor belt and send it through an x-ray machine.

"After I got through the metal detector and waited for my bra to come through the conveyor belt, one of the security guards said, "'That's a girl,'" Plato said. She thought the guard was making fun of her.

More....

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=11803

I am "not petite" either and, yeah, I have had an underwire bra set off a metal detector. The security guards just used a wand on me and that was that ~~ at no time has there ever been a suggestion to take off my underwire bra.

However, lately I have had problems getting through hospital security because I had bobby pins and a large metal clip in my hair. I have very long hair and these were used to hold my hair up in a French twist. The male guard wanted me to take down my hair so he did not have to wand me. I told him NO in no uncertain terms that I was NOT about to take down my hair because he was too lazy to remove his butt from his chair and do his job. Now he lets me through even though I always buzz because he says he does not want to have another fight with me over my hair pins. My opinion is that he is too lazy to get off his fat butt.

[EST]

1. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

I am truly sorry, but my jokester streak just won't shut up for me, this morning.

If I could foretell the future and had posited something of this scenario in 1980, no one would have believed me.

[Jeanette in FL]

2. I'd bounce my boobies for all to see

I'll tell you, if that was me, I would throw modesty to the wind, rip off my shirt, undo my bra and let those girls loose.

How humiliating for that woman. Good grief, what have we become.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. DITTO!

[WolverineDG]

13. I'd do the same

I don't have much, but I've got no problem making authoritarian asshats embarrassed. Might keep 'em from doing it again, too.

dg

[madmom]

14. ditto here and dare them to arrest me for indecent exposure!

[zabet]

3. I let my 20 year old daughter

read this story. She is blessed in the chest with double Ds,
and she said, "They would rather I did NOT take my bra off in
public like that Mom...jeeeez...it would cause a fickin' riot
if I turned my puppies loose in the courthouse!"

On the other hand, I have had my underwire bras set off metal
detectors at the courthouse and NEVER have I been told I would
have to remove my bra. The person that told her she had to remove
it - their motives could be questioned. I would ask to see the
'protocol' the security person was authorized to go by, what is the
SOP in this case (I am sure this is not the first time someone wore
an underwire bra into the courthouse there). I would also ask to
speak to this person's supervisor.

[RobofSWVA]

4. I know it was embarrassing for her.

But I find it more humorous than outrageous. Sorry. It’s like something off Seinfeld.

[malaise]

5. Nothing humorous here

These days I wear sports bras when flying because I abhor strangers touching me all over.

[snappyturtle]

7. Thanks for the great idea malaise! I have to fly in a few weeks and

I'm not looking forward to it....this will make me feel better too.

[malaise]

41. You're welcome

:hi:

[Hepburn]

10. Even tho I am really busty....

...I do the same thing when I fly and for the same reasons.

[malaise]

42. Same here but better I feel good

rather than look good. I no longer enjoy traveling and will piss off the siblings next month since I have no plan of facing airport crap six times even for a thanksgiving family reunion which will last three days.

[yardwork]

16. So you enjoy laughing at others' embarrassment?

Nice.

[lapislzi]

44. The fact that you would find humor in someone's discomfort

Says a lot about you.

Clearly this person did not find it so.

[snappyturtle]

6. I just can't buy into all this hassle we the people are enduring these days.

What does all this wanding and searching yield? Has anybody heard of a huge terror plot that's been averted because of the diligence of the security industry? I've been through a situation in a court house where every other person had to be further "searched" after passing through the metal detector...and about every other person (me included) had to walk back two blocks to our parked vehicles to deposit our cell phones. This was in St. Cloud, MN. I am infuriated by all of this....I think the gov't.-at-large is looking to piss people off to such an extent that we will acquiesce to "papers please"....I think we're very close to that as the next line of defense.

IMHO I also believe that metal detectors are set at too low a level....that's why bobbie pins and underwire bras are setting them off....I know I'm playing the victim here but I am tired of the
inconvenience and abounding distrust of fellow citizens.

[Hepburn]

9. I used to go through metal detectors all the time....

...cuz I am a lawyer and before I retired, I had to go into courthouses almost every day of the work week. While at times my underwire bra and my bobbie pins set off a metal detector...what I learned did NOT set it off were things like deadly weapons made of plastic. Also deadly weapons can be disguised as "normal" objects ~~ like a tube of lipstick that has a knife blade that twists out of it instead of lipstick and when closed looks just like any other tube of lipstick.

So...all this metal detector BS that catches things like underwires, bobbie pins, and metal in the heels of shoes....why????

[pdxmom]

11. This is happening more and more often. They don't want to use the

manpower and time for individually wanding people. I work for a criminal attorney and underwire bras are not allowed at all in the jails and prisons. Expect this to become standard.

[Hepburn]

15. What????

IMO, my chest unleashed is more of a lethal weapon that is any of the underwire in my bra!

:evilgrin:

[pdxmom]

20. I have to wear a back brace that sets off the scanners when I go to

the courthouse. I try to remember to take it off before I go, but I've forgotten before. You should see the popping eyeballs when I pull up my top and they see how all the childbirth flab is squished into an ugly roll. I get a kick out of the guards' embarrassment.

[Hepburn]

22. You go, girl!

You walk proud and don't let those security azzholes get you! I like your style.

[guitar man]

12. this thread

is useless without pics.

:hide:

[Hepburn]

17. Here ya go........

....this is an underwire bra:

[guitar man]

19. hey

that's a threat to national security, I must ask you to remove it immediately.

:rofl:

[Hepburn]

21. Ummmmm......

....I posted a pic of the modest one....the one with the metal tassels might be the one they think is a security threat!

:rofl:

[guitar man]

24. actually I think

the guards just watch too many movies :D

[Hepburn]

25. Do the credits on this movie read....

..."no bunny tails were harmed in the making of this movie?"

:rofl:

[TahitiNut]

31. Yep. Those double-barreled sling-shots are weapons of mastos destruction.

:evilgrin:

[Katherine Brengle]

18. That's almost as ridiculous as underwire bras.

There are no words for either.

[Hepburn]

23. Speaking as someone who is well beyond a...

...DD cup, underwires are a pretty essential element in any bra I wear. That or let the bra straps dig the Grand Canyon into my shoulders. I need the support from both the top and underneath and to not have a bra constructed with dual support, it causes pain for both my shoulders and my back.

[guitar man]

27. yup

Mrs GTRMAN is a 44HHH, so underwires are pretty much mandatory for her. As far as the guards asking her to take it off, I don't know if I would fault them that much for it. She could probably hide an AK-47 in that thing! :wow:

[Katherine Brengle]

43. True --

I didn't intend to insult. I don't think most women benefit that way from them (which doesn't mean those who do should not, just that the reasons most women wear them need to be smashed to bits).

[johnnie]

26. What would be a fix?

I know it was humiliating for this woman and probably many others, but I think they need screening in courthouses. Should they just take people's word for why the metal detector is going off? Do they get rid of metal detectors? Is there another way to secure these places? Should they set up little booths where people can get undressed and do what they need to do before going through the metal detectors?

I'm just curious on everyone's thoughts?

[Hepburn]

29. IMO....

....start by hiring people who are better than minimum wage employees and try also putting some females on these lines. The use of wands with more personnel available would be good, too.

In the case of the story from my OP, if there had been a female guard on duty (which there was not), then she could have gone with the underwire wearer to the ladies room and handled the problem. That would have been less time consuming and embarrassing IMO.

[yellowcanine]

28. one of the security guards said, "'That's a girl,'"

I am sorry but I find this unacceptable. At the least this guard needs to be retrained on how to be more respectful of people, particularly women.

[Hepburn]

30. IMO, that is what got me about the whole deal....

...the remark from a male using that term. Really out of line, IMO.

[guitar man]

36. yeah, that is in pretty poor taste

I get the impression from that bit that the guards may not have been sure of the actual gender of the person wearing the bra. They could have and should have handled it much more tactfully than they did. boorish pricks.

[Ilsa]

32. I think I want to open a business that makes "under-plastic" support

bras. Replacing the metal with a heavy-duty pvc or other flat plastic would end this mess. I guess I need to call Goddess (they make undergarments for full-figured women) and some other companies to get after it. Full-breasted women are tired of being treated poorly by oogling, lazy security guards, and we are tired of arguing with them.

[Hepburn]

34. Great idea!

And great for reasons beyond just the issue of setting off metal detectors.

The metal in the underwire bras I have always seems to eventually poke through the end of the fabric tube that holds it. That has happened to me on cheap bras, expensive ones and on custom made ones. Maybe heavy plastic with "dull" ends would not cause this or at least not as often allow this to happen. Nothing like all of a sudden being out somewhere and getting stabbed by the end of a metal bra stay!

:hi:

[Ilsa]

38. I'm good at problem solving, but I don't work for anyone.

I'm always coming up with ideas like this, and I don't really want to open my own manufacturing company, but I would like to get paid if my idea takes off for another company.

[guitar man]

37. you might want to look into

kevlar or some other super strength non metallic materials. It might cost a bit more, but it would probably come closer to the strength and durability of metal that something like pvc would.

[Ilsa]

39. I don't know anything about kevlar. Is it flexible if designed into

long, flat, curved strips? It needs to be able to curse slightly around a woman's trunk. I don't think the under "wire" support on a bra needs to be much stronger than what is known as "stays" in other under garments (corsets, etc).

[guitar man]

40. not sure

but I know it is what is used in body armor, high strength composit aircraft parts and a bunch of other high tensile uses, so I think it would be pretty flexible.

When I think of the strength required, I just have to wonder why underwire bras still use metal after all these years. I mean. with Mrs GTRMAN's 44hhh's, it takes quite a lot of cup strength to hold those up, so I don't think going too flimsy with the plastic in a bra that size would work too well.

I'm drawing on old knowlege of structual mechanincs from when I went to aviation tech school years ago, so I'm guessing at what stresses might actually be in play here.

[Didereaux]

33. omigawd! I KNOW her...been a few years. there will be HELL to pay! n/t

[Hepburn]

35. Ooooooooh....

....we should look for a follow up story, right?

:hi: