Note-leaving TSA agent suspended

309 thoughts on Note-leaving TSA agent suspended

1. Ugh, I’m so sorry, Jill.

2. I completely missed this whole thing. Can’t say I’m interested… but I’m certainly sympathetic about being the subject of unwanted media circuses.

3. Yes! That is not who or what you are and fight for. I take it As a friendly note in a very stressed world. Their work is hard and under appreciated. S/he has learned many lessons. Great editorial.

4. I would much prefer a look at why ‘security’ has been used to justify so many intrusions on our civil liberties, rather than fire a person who made a mistake.

   You can take as many “looks” as you want. But I can conceive of no plausible scenario under which this lunacy comes to an end until it becomes clear that you will loose your job and livelihood when you violate the rights of citizens. If they become personally, criminally liable, it will happen even faster.

5. This inability to see beyond the micro level seems like a frustrating inevitability whenever a social-justice issue makes it into mainstream consciousness. Of course it was never about that one TSA agent. But good luck expecting most people to get it or even care.

6. I’m not much of a commenter — usually would just click on the “like”. But since this blog has no such feature, this is my way of clicking on that like feature. Or +1

7. But he was not fired thanks to Pistole and AFGE.

   Had you not been an assertive blogger and the story made national news you can be certain that the screener would still be on the job. This is undoubtedly not the first time this has happened, just the first time that the public learned about this behavior. Many women would have either been too embarrassed to report it or complained to TSA who would just ignore it or say it was somehow her fault, which is their usual defense of their abuses.

   Does anyone really believe this is the only time one of these misfits has done this sort of thing? These people are a scourge on air travel and the entire agency a national disgrace. It is long past time to replace this agency and prosecute those responsible for this travesty.

   TSA Crimes & Abuses
   http://www.travelunderground.org/index.php?threads/master-lists-of-tsa-abuses-crimes.317/

8. The problem with this reading is that it implies a mistake was made somehow. The guy did something stupid intentionally. Granted, it was permitted by (and the larger issue is) warrantless searches of personal property, but the overview is that this guy was hired to paw through your stuff. The sense of entitlement that engenders comes with the job. It’s on purpose.

   1. Rob, you’re right — the sense of entitlement does come with the job. And like I said in the post, I think it’s fair and appropriate that there were consequences for this one individual. But I also think it’s worth questioning what’s going on with a job that breeds that sense of entitlement. I feel that way about most authority figures — TSA officials, police officers, etc. Stories like this happen all the time, and they’re conveniently written off as “just one bad apple.” But it’s a bad system. And it’s a system that gives huge amounts of authority to a small group of individuals, with very little oversight. Then it blames the individuals when they act as if they had unlimited authority.

      So yes, the guy did something stupid intentionally. He also works in a field that gives him near universal discretion to behave badly. That’s a problem worth talking about.

9. I was worried that this would happen. It’s easier to scapegoat one person whose motives are unclear than to deal with your actual point. For all we know, he/she wasn’t trying to be perverted at all. In fact, they may have thought they were using humor to alert you as to why your bag got flagged.

10. I love that your mom was on this post in a hot minute.

11. Jill, does this mean the TSA told you the agent who wrote that note was a guy?

    1. Jill, does this mean the TSA told you the agent who wrote that note was a guy?

       No. They haven’t told me the gender of the note-writer. Sorry, should have been more careful not to gender the individual in question in my comments.

12. Well, I’m pretty sure most of us do want those people to lose their jobs, since we’re fighting against privacy intrusions which are made possible simply by their job’s existence, but that caveat aside, I am sorry about the whole internet-fame thing. I feel the two issues are intertwined in a way I’m not sufficiently intelligent enough to point out, but yeah. Hope it dies down.

13. I think that’s a pretty classy response, Jill. I’m sorry this spun out the way it did for you.

14. This is a well-constructed response, Jill. I hope this story dies down pretty soon.

15. Yes–I mean, I took the note as a jokey, well-meaning thing that was still extremely inappropriate and yet (as you originally said) really fucking funny. And ITA that going after one individual is fucked up when the very notion of searching our luggage–even our checked luggage–is now seen as commonplace and okay. What used to be unthinkable privacy intrusions are now accepted here; many Americans promote policies like this in the name of protecting our freedoms. (Because nothing protects our freedoms more than agencies with carte blanche to search us.)

16. I don’t normally comment places to say things like “this is a great response,” but this is seriously a great response. It seems like it’s just easier for the media to deflect this into personal stories than to ever consider that maybe there are systemic issues at play (see also: every politics story ever). After all, if it’s discussed as a systemic problem, it might have to be reported outside of a “A said, B said” model, and we couldn’t have that.

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18. When I first read this story I just hoped the guy (male handwriting) wouldn’t lose his low wage job.

    Jill, if you wanted to make this about the larger issue of privacy, fine; the original post sufficed. I do think you delighted in his suspension/firing otherwise you would not have given the TSA the crucial information to that end.

    You don’t have to look further than this incident to see why feminist can’t lose the ‘humorless’ tag.

19. Jill: I feel that way about most authority figures — TSA officials, police officers, etc. Stories like this happen all the time, and they’re conveniently written off as “just one bad apple.” But it’s a bad system.

    I guess the “good” news is that TSA doesn’t (yet?) seem to have the same toxic culture that exists in many police departments, where even the individual malefactors are protected, lied for, and valorized right up until indictments are handed down.

20. I don’t see any justification for anyone given a government license to peek into my private life saying anything.

    Yes, Jill is right, the larger issue is TSA power, but it’s also true that there will be situations where it is legitimate to go through your bag. If this note had been left by a US Customs agent doing an inspection (perfectly legitimate exercise of state power), there would still be no excuse for it.

    So the principle that TSA screeners aren’t supposed to make unprofessional comments is worth upholding.

    Amanda Marcotte:
    I was worried that this would happen. It’s easier to scapegoat one person whose motives are unclear than to deal with your actual point. For all we know, he/she wasn’t trying to be perverted at all. In fact, they may have thought they were using humor to alert you as to why your bag got flagged.

21. A very similar thing happened to me, except that the TSA notice was wrapped around my item very obviously (ie straps were unwrapped, notice was rolled around object, then straps were wrapped around the outside again). I complained to TSA from home in Australia and after several months of emails and phone calls they effectively did nothing. I guess they don’t really care to do anything about the issue at hand unless they are publicly shamed.

22. All this nonsense about this woman’s “privacy”! Who chose to splash the story of her vibrator in her luggage and a picture of the note in her bag, all over the internet via her blog? The TSA agent?

    No, it was the very woman who complained about her “privacy” being violated! Of course she should have complained—-to the TSA, privately, and with DIGNITY—-if she really valued her privacy so darn much.

    Sounds like finding this note in her luggage was just what she needed to use to get the publicity she craves. In one article, she is even quoted as saying on her blog that she got a laugh out of it at first, when she first unpacked her bag in her hotel room….then she said that after she considered it, she decided to complain. OK, go ahead and complain, to those to whom you should complain.

    Perhaps after she “considered it” she decided to complain, which she had every right to do, but to then publicize the incident while at the same time complaining about the violation of her “privacy”?

23. supaidaman:
    I would much prefer a look at why ‘security’ has been used to justify so many intrusions on our civil liberties, rather than fire a person who made a mistake.

    You can take as many “looks” as you want. But I can conceive of no plausible scenario under which this lunacy comes to an end until it becomes clear that you will loose your job and livelihood when you violate the rights of citizens. If they become personally, criminally liable, it will happen even faster.

    Tossing a few $13-an-hour baggage screeners in jail isn’t going to solve the security-state issue when the former Secretary of Homeland Security profits handsomely from setting up his client, Rapiscan, with a multi-billion-dollar government contract to manufacture body scanners.

    Eyes on the ball.

24. Vicky: In one article, she is even quoted as saying on her blog that she got a laugh out of it at first,

    Is this the blog comment equivalent of talking in front of someone as if they aren’t there?

25. I have a really hard time believing you didn’t know this was going to happen — not that I think they shouldn’t be reprimanded for their note…

    i just think that the fact that they had to review your bag was totally normal. yes, you may have had a bullet in your bag. yes, TSA obviously SHOULD review that to make sure it’s not a bomb. but no, they shouldn’t comment on it.

    just don’t act naive by saying you didn’t know what was going to happen by your post… of course it’s going to garner attention. come on.

26. I’ve been pondering something supportive to say, but nothing profound or helpful has occurred to me. All I can come up with is…I’m sorry the world is so broken that this became a viral story for all the wrong reasons. Fortunately and unfortunately the world has a very short attention span. I would guess that shortly people will remember this incident about as well as they remember autoadmit.

    Also, this may be an excellent way to embarrass the living hell out of your future children should you have any.

27. Go Jill. Brilliant followup.

28. While your response is extremely classy , I am starting to think that this Personal-Item-Gate could actually be used as the catalyst for a larger broadside against the TSA, and perhaps even the (un)Patriot Act. Americans may be a lot of things, but one thing they are, is respectful of female sexual privacy (referring to the decent Americans). In other words: DON’T wish that this goes away. You have been fighting (from the left) for years. This is one opportunity where your feminism and a larger political issues (lack of privacy) overlap completely. Starting a “conversation” is nice and all but I actually think that being known as the girl with the personal item might actually get you before some influential people — especially women. The Hillary’s, the Pelosi’s of the world. Female sexuality once stopped a war (Greek buffs around?). Maybe I’m being idealistic, but why can’t female sexuality earn us all a little bit of freedom? I’m not much of a theist, but if I was, I’d say that “the force” CHOSE you to be the one that had her privacy violated, because a) you’re articulate; b) you’re a feminist and speak the language necessary to enact change; and c) you have a lot of followers. This random American desperately urges you immerse yourself in the media narrative and shape hearts and minds. I’m surprised that you don’t think of this as an opportunity.

29. Evidently Jill is psychic and should have known that posting about this on her blog would result in suddenly going viral in a matter of hours. Silly me for not blaming the victim, like Vicky did!

30. Silly her for travelling with the device in the first place. Super-ridiculous for her tweeting about it all. She brought the attention/embarassment on herself. I see she’s disabled wall postings on her FB page. I hope the TSA employee wasn’t disciplined too harshly! She is no doubt getting her freak on!

31. Jill, how did you get control of the TSA blog to perpetuate your terrible made-up LIE???????? Will you truly do ~anything~ for the hits?

32. I followed this story from Moral Low Ground. I agree with everything you (Jill) say, about how the focus on the individual TSA agent and the silly/naughty nature of the particular incident avoids looking at the bigger problem of how none of us has any privacy anymore because of the power we’ve handed over to these agencies in the name of “security”. (Oh, and Vicky completely missed the point.)
    That said, since no one else has made the obvious connection, here’s what came to my mind when I read the first story:
    “Nine times out of ten it’s an electric razor. But … every once in a while … it’s a dildo. Of course, it’s company policy never to imply ownership in the event of a dildo. We have to use the indefinite article, “a dildo”, never … your dildo.”

33. I’d like to believe that people wouldn’t deliberately seek you out just to spit pointless venom onto your blog because they’re threatened by public, assertive female sexuality…and yet, here they are. Apparently incapable of reading your multiple clear statements that you are not actually embarrassed to have travelled with a vibrator.

    Jackasses.

34. Small, kind-of-relevant point:

    You all know it’s completely impossible to predict what will ‘take off’ on the internet right? It’s not like anyone at all has the power to figure out what will go viral and why. The same post in a different week might have just gone without much splash at all.

    The people accusing Jill of seeking attention are basically claiming that she is Dr Manhattan. Because that’s the level of precognition needed to make it plausible.

35. “As much as this is a funny and titillating story, when I put the note on Twitter for what I thought was a relatively limited audience I was hoping it would open up a bigger conversation about privacy rights (or lack thereof) in post-9/11 America.”

    Hahahahaha! Ok, seriously though, I wish I could still hope for something like that.

    I still don’t understand why people aren’t MORE concerned about all the times their bags got searched and NOBODY left a note of any kind. Isn’t that much creepier? I guess people take this opportunity to get super offended at this comparatively benign abuse of power because it allows them to normalize the “everyday” seizure and search of citizens’ belongings.

    In NYC every once in a while you have to surrender your bag if you want to use public transportation, too. And then they take everything out of it right there in front of everybody.

36. I rarely ever comment here but I had to comment to say I’m shocked at the response to the original post. It was something, as Jill said in her first post, inappropriate, and privacy-invading, but she found it hilarious, so she posted it. I mean, people apparently hate feminists *so* much that they’ve managed to turn your lighthearted reaction to something that actually was sexist into woman-bashing.

37. So I said this in the previous post, but no, I really did not realize that posting a funny note on Twitter would garner such a huge response. Again, I’ve had ridiculous travel-related stuff happen to me a bunch of times now, and I’ve tweeted about it a bunch of times. Guess what: No huge media circus! Was I shocked that, say, Gawker picked it up? No. Did I expect to be on Fox News and the View? Um, no. When you put something funny on Twitter, that really is not the predictable outcome.

    As for the “privacy” argument, y’all are not really getting the point.

38. 1. You put this out on Twitter but you don’t want to be the “get your freak on girl?” That sounds incredibly naive for someone who appears as sophisticated as you. I just don’t buy this woe is me stuff.

    2. Of course the guy is going to get fired. Once they found him, they have to fire him to make this appear isolated. You decided that when you put this in the public domain.

    3. A vibrator in your bag is going to get it opened every time. Look on the internet for xray pictures of vibrators and you will see that they look like bombs. Just wait until someone actually tries to smuggle in a vibrator-bomb. Then, in the typical reactive fashion, the TSA will come up with vibrator rules: Take off your shoes, remove your computer and vibrator from your bag, etc.

    1. Then don’t buy it. I’ve tweeted more than 7,000 times — about funny travel stories, and actually about vibrators too (although unrelated to travel). I think it sounds incredibly naive to suggest that every single time a person puts something on Twitter, they are looking for national attention and to be widely known for that one tweet.

39. Jill: I think it sounds incredibly naive to suggest that every single time a person puts something on Twitter, they are looking for national attention and to be widely known for that one tweet.

    Sounds?! It’s ridiculous. People who say shit like this don’t know how the internet works.

40. What, exactly, is the alternative to traveling with your vibrator? Somehow I can’t see Hertz Rent-a-Vibe taking off. And I doubt that keeping a vibrator in every possible destination city is an option for most of us (and how would that work? Designated vibrator lockers?). Honestly, the comments to that effect are about as silly as asking why someone would travel with their preferred razor or comb or shoes or whatever: because it’s what gets the job done in the way that one prefers it to be done, that’s why.
    And of course this employee’s being disciplined is all about Jill tromping on the oppressed workers. It’s not about the TSA allowing inappropriate behavior on the part of its workers and being too damn lazy to deal with the problem properly when it’s inconveniently brought to their attention; it’s not about a TSA employee engaging in creepy behavior that indicates either a wish to make the recipient uncomfortable (pretty much of a kind with leering and subway fondlers, though the degree may be argued) or the sort of obliviousness to how their actions come across that requires education if the employee is to continue in their present job; no, it’s about Jill’s lack of solidarity with the vibrator-droolers of the TSA. There’s a heavy air of “don’t make trouble” to some of these comments that belongs back in the ‘fifties and was nothing good back then, either.

41. OK, how is a woman carrying or using a vibrator “getting her freak on”. Sounds like she has a healthy respect for her sexuality. Maybe if more people were not afraid of sex the world would be a better place. That said… anyone traveling by air these days knows full well you and your bags will be searched and anyone with a healthy respect of their sexuality wouldn’t give a damn if a TSA agent found the vibrator (or a dildo or lube or anything else (such as a man carrying a pocket pussy… hint… men can masturbate too)) . Should this person have left a note… HELL NO! It was beyond tasteless.The agent should have seen that it wasn’t a “vibrator bomb” and left it at that. Just my humble opinion.

42. Patriarch: I do think you delighted in his suspension/firing otherwise you would not have given the TSA the crucial information to that end.

    Aaaaaaaand I’m proven right. Again. I win yet another bet. You douches are so fucking predictable.

    You don’t have to look further than this incident to see why feminist can’t lose the ‘humorless’ tag.

    You mean when Jill said it was wildly inappropriate but she still “laughed [her] head off in [her] hotel room”? You should perhaps work more to lose the ‘stupid’ tag, though I must admit, you wear it well, cupcake.

    Vicky: Sounds like finding this note in her luggage was just what she needed to use to get the publicity she craves.

    And yet you come here giving it to her. Sounds like this post is just what you needed to use to generate the moral outrage you crave. When you’re done aspirating on your own spittle, perhaps you can revisit your finger-wagging lecture on DIGNITY (because as another commenter pointed out, discreet and private complaints certainly get taken seriously by the TSA).

    Stupid–it’s what’s for breakfast on Whiny Street in Trollville.

43. I still don’t understand why people aren’t MORE concerned about all the times their bags got searched and NOBODY left a note of any kind. Isn’t that much creepier? I guess people take this opportunity to get super offended at this comparatively benign abuse of power because it allows them to normalize the “everyday” seizure and search of citizens’ belongings.

    This. A thousand times.

    I thought the note was kind of funny and the note itself isn’t the thing that creeped me out at all. Instead, it is the privacy violations that piss me off. That and the fact that we, as Americans, have gotten so used to the idea that it will happen and is so commonplace now that the only thing people are getting outraged about is that somebody thought it would be a good idea to leave a note about a vibrator and that a woman would dare to travel with one. The whole idea of security theater and that we have to give up our basic rights and freedom to “protect our freedoms” pisses me right the hell off.

44. I respectfully disagree with part of your premise. While I agree that TSA has gone way overboard with the level of security, searching checked bags that have objects that may present security risks is pretty reasonable behavior… I travel for a living, and my bags regularly get searched because I carry tools/flashlights in my bags.

    The conduct of the TSA agent though was out of line, and his/her firing was deserved. Unfortuntunately, TSA has to have zero tolerance for this type of unprofessional behaviour.

45. Ledasmom:
    And of course this employee’s being disciplined is all about Jill tromping on the oppressed workers. It’s not about the TSA allowing inappropriate behavior on the part of its workers and being too damn lazy to deal with the problem properly when it’s inconveniently brought to their attention; it’s not about a TSA employee engaging in creepy behavior that indicates either a wish to make the recipient uncomfortable (pretty much of a kind with leering and subway fondlers, though the degree may be argued) or the sort of obliviousness to how their actions come across that requires education if the employee is to continue in their present job; no, it’s about Jill’s lack of solidarity with the vibrator-droolers of the TSA.

    Seriously. It’s like those stories that pop up when baristas or clerks hand customers their orders with racial slurs, insults, etc. on the receipt and then get busted. There’s inevitably someone moaning about how this shouldn’t cost them their job, and how mean is this customer that they’re going to ruin this person’s life over a receipt.

    You know what? If you can’t refrain from typing “Chonga Bitch” in the customer note field on somebody’s JambaJuice order, maybe you shouldn’t be trusted with that same customer’s drink. This isn’t exactly advanced public relations or graduate-level not-being-an-asshole, here. If you can’t see why it might not be such a great idea to personalize the “we pawed through your stuff” note in order to make it painfully obvious that “I, a strange person you don’t know, saw your sex toy! And I, in my capacity as a government agent tasked with helping keep you safe, Have Opinions About It!”, maybe we need to rethink the whole trusting you with authority and access thing.

46. 2. Of course the guy is going to get fired. Once they found him, they have to fire him to make this appear isolated. You decided that when you put this in the public domain.

    Jonny boy, shut the fuck up and dance. You’re not saying anything new; certainly not anything that hasn’t been predicted by ants on LSD.

    Call me eccentric, but I think when you act inappropriately on the job, you should figure you’ve got a good chance of getting fired. Odd how Jill should have known this would have taken off on the internet, but it occurs to none of these new (rather failed) skeptics that the TSA inspector should have figured that maybe, just maybe, they’d be canned for this.

47. The whole idea of security theater and that we have to give up our basic rights and freedom to “protect our freedoms” pisses me right the hell off.

    It’s basic troll (il)logic. Just look at the variety of it in this thread and the original thread about this. Totally fine to have your stuff searched and if they do something inappropriate you should hide yourself away, shamefaced and embarrassed (to preserve your DIGNITY like a proper Victorian layddeeeee). Because freedom. WHAT IF SOMEONE PACKS A VIBRATOR BOMB??? ZOMG.

48. But I can conceive of no plausible scenario under which this lunacy comes to an end until it becomes clear that you will loose your job and livelihood when you violate the rights of citizens.

    But the woman who got fired for this, her entire job was to violate the rights of citizens. So she loses her job and her livelihood either way.

49. Jill, I think your narcissism may have gotten the best of you here. Now, EVERYONE knows you use a “sex toy.”

50. I fly several times a month and have stopped packing what caused your problem long ago as my luggage is almost always overly inspected or as I call it “tossed”. Such as dumping out my make up case into my luggage so it mixes with my clothing or every worse…. Not long ago they opened a bag of maxi pads (the ultra thins) and unwrapped all of them as well as a couple of tampons – what’s up with this? Sure did not want to use them after they have all been touched and who knows what. However, was it some type of a sick joke or did they looks like a sanitary product was a realistic threat to security?

    Also going through one of the new screening machines (same trip) they asked me what was in my pants. That was embarrassing as other travelers could hear me.

    Note: I was traveling in a wheelchair most of this year after having a bone tumor removed from my femur. When I refused to go in the new machines that dose you with radiation. TSA on many occasions were very rude and this was when I was still using a walker and it caused me a great deal or pain to try and get into the machine without touching it. One time on a trip back from a hospital in Houston, TX one TSA agent got angry with me. Is it because I am young and do not look like I belong in a wheelchair? It was so bad that is attracted the attention of 2 airline captains who stopped and started an argument about the way they treated me. Both of them stormed off and everyone was staring at me, it was a horrible experience and almost caused me to cry.

    Lately TSA has started to insist that Backscatter technology machines emit no radiation. This was told to my at several different airports where I told them I would not go in the machine. I guess TSA personal are now trained to lie as backscatter scanners use the same kind of x-ray photons as are produced in medical x-ray machines but expose the subject at a considerably lower dose. Still it is up to debate if they are totally safe or not and considering my health situation I do not need any extra carcinogens.

    So sorry about what happened to you.

51. AT the very least ‘Vibrator Bomb’ is an excellent name for a band.

    Although something tells me your typical terrorist is not going to be overly thrilled at the idea of purchasing and handling a sex toy…they tend to be somewhat stuffy about that sort of thing.

52. I’ll take an increased risk of getting blown to pieces if I can keep my shoes on and not have a government employee looking through my shit. That’s what freedom is.

    The only way terrorism can be effective is if we overreact to it. I know people get scared. What liberty requires of us is that we stuff the fear down and get on with our lives, instead of permitting the state to become increasingly authoritarian so it can protect of from remote threats.

    The simply can’t kill enough of us to make much of the difference. If every operative they sent here walked onto a train packed with explosives, the total deaths in a year would never equal what we lose to car accidents. We will always be at more risk from drivers who are drunk or sleepy or texting than from terrorists. So why are we volunteering to tear up the compact that limits our government?

    A soft and spineless people are easily tyranized.

53. Jill, for all your savvy, I’m shocked you didn’t realize that when a notable feminist starts talking about her … personal items … it’s going to lead to some sort of media shit storm.

    That said, the person should be fired, not suspended. Completely unacceptable. But then I guess said person would be on the public doll, which wouldn’t help any of us.

54. Jill: No. They haven’t told me the gender of the note-writer. Sorry, should have been more careful not to gender the individual in question in my comments.

    I am willing to bet you $50 it was a woman.

55. Stay strong, Jill. The internet might be forever, but you do enough important things that this will eventually fade into the background noise.

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58. You put this out on twitter and then discuss with abc news and it has to do with the TSA and you are surprised that it got blown into a big deal? Are you serious?
    And now you just want it to go away?

    First you laughed about it in your hotel room but now that it might garner some attention you complained to the TSA?

    You shoulda thought about that before you put it on twitter. That was really dumb or really smart if you are an attention hound, perhaps?

    I too feel so bad for you. Wah wah wah.
    Maybe you should just get a boyfriend. One that doesn’t need batteries!!!

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60. Speak to a lawyer. Sue the TSA.

    One goon was suspended, another will take its place.

61. Listen, I still think this is a win-win situation for feminism.

62. This media circus is such bullshit. Jill asked on the other thread if we were mostly adults here, and the answer is, in this culture, when it comes to women’s sexuality, we’re really not. We can pretend we’re all chill, but the moment something non-normative (even overwhelmingly common but not openly discussed, like vibrator use) comes to light about a woman’s sexuality, a whole lot of folks revert to fifth grade. It’s sadly reminiscent of Beavis & Butthead.

    Maybe someday we’ll be able to have a grown-up conversation in grown-up fora about sexuality, identity and praxis without howls of “TMI!” and titters of “she, uh, DOES IT … huh huh”.

63. I actually get why TSA inspects luggage. I am willing to bet that certain electric devices look like bombs on scanners, and the only way to know is to open it up and look at the object. I wouldn’t object if TSA left a polite, professional note saying “We opened your luggage and here’s why.” Frankly, scanning luggage for potential bombs strikes me as possibly useful, unlike the Three Ounce Rule. But when people, by virtue of their position, have access to some aspect of our private lives, they owe it to us to be respectful and professional.

    Whether the protocols that dictated the search are reasonable or not is another discussion. I think there’s a lot of security theater going on, I’m just not sure that scanning checked luggage for explosives and verifying suspicious items necessarily counts.

64. Why are you all assuming that the person who was disciplined was a male?

    Also, the blog post says only “That individual was immediately removed from screening operations and appropriate disciplinary action has been initiated.” That does not mean the individual was suspended, nor does it mean that the individual did not return to screening thereafter. “TSA has zero tolerance for this type of behavior,” like the remainder of that entry, does not really say much at all.

65. It occurs to me that the same type of person who is here defending the TSA and finger-wagging about how you should have known all this would happen if you packed a vibrator is the same type who came onto the Steven Greenstreet threads hyperventilating about the violation of Facebook’s terms of service.

    IOW, authoritarian bootlickers.

    Look, I can buy that a vibe, when x-rayed, looks suspicious. I can buy that this will lead to an increased chance of having your bag inspected. What I cannot buy, however, is that this should ever lead to the kind of note that Jill received.

66. Koala Bear: Female sexuality once stopped a war (Greek buffs around?).

    As a “Greek buff” (if by “buff” you mean “PhD student”), I would just like to say,

    LOLOLOLOL. You know Lysistrata is a comedy, right? As in, fiction. And also as in, deliberately absurd and unrealistic. This is like saying that things in South Park episodes all really happened.

67. Go away?

    I wish something like this would happen to ME, because I would appear on as many talk shows as possible to shine a bright light on the dark figures hiding in the corridors of Washington. I’d be using it as a constant reminder to the American people of how their rights are being violated.

    No Warrant. No Search.

    That is what the supreme law of the land states, and yet government is violating it every day. The government is breaking constitutional law. Did you know the TSA is now stopping CARS on interstate highways and performing searches? They don’t even have probable cause to look inside cars, much less stop them and interfere with the natural right to travel down the road.

    This is ridiculous.

68. The world has become a very strange and unfriendly place. I take as little as I can if I fly and nothing personal gets checked. Certainly no personal appliances….come on you know the blue glove squad could not keep a job at a fast food chain… The whole security theater thing needs to end. Fast and furious saw 2000 guns get sold to violent drug gangs. No one will get fired or go to jail. Obviously the same brilliant minds were behind 20 men with box cutters who could barely fly a Cessna . Lets stop the nonsense and end the war of stupidity……

69. Well, maybe TSA will get the message but I kinda doubt it. I think it’s awesome that Jill spoke up and called them out on it, if she didn’t the same behavior would just continue.

    I was told a similar story when I worked security (not at an airport) and (this was a supervisor telling us the story!) was expected to laugh at it. The stories I could tell would make most people’s skin crawl!

70. As for the “privacy” argument, y’all are not really getting the point.

    Bear in mind, the fact that you don’t find this to be a terrible invasion of your personal dignity (which is a great attitude to have– I’m glad you can laugh at this) doesn’t mean other people wouldn’t.

    I know people who, for instance, get very, very upset if a waiter at a restaurant makes any comment about what they have ordered, no matter how harmless it may seem. And even though I *don’t* get really upset at such comments, I still think the fact that some people believe strongly that it’s none of the waiter’s business to comment on the fact that they order the same salad with no dressing every time they go to the restaurant is good enough reason for waiters to be trained NOT to comment on what people order.

    The fact of the matter is, even though I think that sexuality is healthy and that openness is good, people have a right to treat it as private, and many people do. This is the same reason that the adult video section of the video store was curtained off and mail-orders from adult stores came in plain brown wrappers.

    This comment would sting a lot to many women, I think. And I can think of kinkier things that one might be doing where an unprofessional comment might sting even someone who was very open about their sexuality.

    So I think that the TSA had to discipline the person, and I also wish that we’d have more discussion about whether the TSA should have been given so much power to invade our privacy in the first place. They are two separate issues, but they are both important.

71. Im surprised someone hasnt heard on the grapevine by now, whether the TSA agent responsible was male or female( I suspect female).

72. I get no satisfaction in hearing that someone may be in danger of losing their job over this. I would much prefer a look at why ‘security’ has been used to justify so many intrusions on our civil liberties, rather than fire a person who made a mistake.

    I think that the TSA had to discipline the person, and I also wish that we’d have more discussion about whether the TSA should have been given so much power to invade our privacy in the first place. They are two separate issues, but they are both important.

    It’s almost as if you agree exactly with Jill…

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74. Jill, I am so very sorry. I hope it dies down soon – and these internet random-thing-goes-viral usually seem to.

75. Would it be any less of an alarming invasion of privacy if this was done by a private company rather than by the TSA? (serious q)

76. Why do we even care about the gender of the TSA worker?

77. I saw the abbreviated View clip on the Daily Show’s MOZ, and my only question was: Why does Shari Shepherd hate orgasms?

    I’m sorry for the slut-shaming that is, if not overt, than certainly implied in a bunch of the discussion out in the intertubez. Even if you refused to be shamed, it’s a weight to throw off.

    Many of us are confident that FutureJill will be known for many things besides being the Get Your Freak On Girl Girl.

78. FashionablyEvil:
    It’salmostasifyouagreeexactlywithJill…

    I do agree with Jill for the most part, but I think when she says the “privacy” argument misses the point, she undervalues the narrower issue.

    Look, the reality is that even though the TSA is ridiculous and oppressive, there are always going to be situations where a government agent PROPERLY has authority to go through your stuff. At the very least, e.g., in a situation where a search warrant was properly executed, or a customs search at the border, or when you call the fire department to your home to fight a fire. And a hard and fast rule that says that the agent doesn’t make comments about anything that is found in such searches is thus extremely important.

79. Chris: Chris

    So Chris, I took the bait and read your coverage of this whole event…and dude, you’re dumb.

    “Honestly, I think I’m more offended a girl this hot even needs a vibrator. ”

    Jesus. Okay, I know I shouldn’t be even dignifying this with a response, but you seem serious, so: you know that vibrator use is about what you WANT, not what you “need,” right? Are you saying that every time someone feels like getting off (which may be multiple times a day), they should go find a partner? Would you say that you only masturbate because you can’t find someone to have sex with you?

    But then again, she’s a woman…and women don’t masturbate…they just have sex (with men), right?

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81. A Brit here. First off. Note leaving. Unacceptable. End of.

    But privacy issue re: bag searches isn’t even something British people *think* of, as terrorism has been a big issue on our islands and on mainland Europe for many decades. I remember friends coming back from the US and remarking how unsafe they thought it was when they faced no checks flying internally.

    I can understand resistance to bag searches if you think that the searches are being done for actively nefarious purposes by security agencies i.e. to fit people up for crimes etc, but otherwise it’s just a safety measure. Is the resistance people have here just on principle or for a practical reason?

82. See, I agree with you and I don’t. Let me explain.

    Firstly, I agree the note was highly unprofessional and should never have happened. You do not know that person, they (I assume) do not know you. That is not a way to speak to someone else unless they are a close friend of yours and someone you are comfortable to discuss details of your intimate life with.

    Secondly, I disagree with you on “privacy invasions”. I think profiling is largely wrong and discriminatory, but I think each country has a duty to protect itself and its citizens. If your bag goes through a scanner and shows something suspicious (Such as a vibrator), then they have the responsibility – and legal right – to search your luggage to see what you’re carrying and if it poses a threat to them or the country of your destination, or perhaps you were just caught in random checks.

    I think some aspects of security go way too far and are more about paranoia than any reasonable protection, but bag checking? If they have probable cause and reason to search your bags, they should.

83. Dilan Esper: I do agree with Jill for the most part, but I think when she says the “privacy” argument misses the point, she undervalues the narrower issue.

    Look, the reality is that even though the TSA is ridiculous and oppressive, there are always going to be situations where a government agent PROPERLY has authority to go through your stuff. At the very least, e.g., in a situation where a search warrant was properly executed, or a customs search at the border, or when you call the fire department to your home to fight a fire. And a hard and fast rule that says that the agent doesn’t make comments about anything that is found in such searches is thus extremely important.

    That was my feeling about this. Sometimes government really does have to get into our stuff, and when they do, they ought to be respectful. Not doing so is really an abuse of power, using even legitimate authority for the illegitimate purpose of humiliating someone or having a joke at their expense.

84. This government is so criminal. Criminals from Obama, Napolitano, the crook Federal judges that give them cover. We should not put up with the TSA people. Don’t fly. Send a letter to the governor of the states you usually visit and tell them you will not come there anymore until the TSA is gone. 911 was an inside job. The crook cabal did the whole thing and the Patriot Act was written in advance. They planned to bring a police state because they planned to rip the country off and knew they would need to control the population. http://www.infowars.com

85. The moment this story came to light two thingss were inevitable… regardless of who reported it.
    1. The story would circle the globe in the blink of an eye
    and
    2. The agent would face stern disciplinary actions.
    So, please, do not seem so surprised… least you wish to appear naive.

86. Kathryn: Secondly, I disagree with you on “privacy invasions”. I think profiling is largely wrong and discriminatory, but I think each country has a duty to protect itself and its citizens. If your bag goes through a scanner and shows something suspicious (Such as a vibrator), then they have the responsibility – and legal right – to search your luggage to see what you’re carrying and if it poses a threat to them or the country of your destination, or perhaps you were just caught in random checks.

    You misunderstand the nature of the privacy invasion. Jill’s an experienced traveler, and she’s a lawyer. She knows damn well that her checked baggage is subject to search, whether randomly or for cause.

    What is unacceptable, inappropriate and invasive of her privacy is the agent’s commentary on her possessions. It’s no less invasive than if a TSA agent at a body scanner called over his buddies to gawk at her unclothed image on the scanner.

    The justification we’ve been given for the intrusive searches is that they are necessary to keep us safe. That justification rests on trust — trust that the searches will be no more invasive than necessary to do the job. This note? Was more invasive than it had to be. There’s no justification, none at all, for a baggage screener to break through the fourth wall, so to speak, and remind a passenger that they’ve been in your luggage and they’re touching your most personal items. It was an abuse of trust.

87. Dave Head: No Warrant. No Search.

    That is what the supreme law of the land states, and yet government is violating it every day. The government is breaking constitutional law. Did you know the TSA is now stopping CARS on interstate highways and performing searches? They don’t even have probable cause to look inside cars, much less stop them and interfere with the natural right to travel down the road.

    You do realize that the courts have spent a good deal of time interpreting all that over the years?

88. The bigger problem is that the TSA is capitalizing on our fears of terrorism in order to deprive us of our constitutional rights. I have served in the US Marines, and I would rather a terrorist kill me than show them any fear. Good intelligence stops terrorist attacks – BEFORE they show up at the airports. Molesting infants and 90 year olds doesn’t make us safer. I personally don’t see you as a “victim”. I have no sympathy for you, but I have sympathy for the vulnerable who are violated almost daily by the TSA. If the people don’t rise up and stop this nonsense now, the TSA will be stopping us on bridges and maybe even in our own homes, demanding to look inside our bags. The TSA is making us look like a fearful and panicky nation. America is NEVER supposed to look fearful and panicky. The TSA needs to go – it has done more harm than good.

89. zuzu: Kathryn

    Actually, Kathryn knows that. That’s why she STARTED her comment by saying she agreed completely with Jill: regarding the note. She’s just voicing the opinion that the search per se wasn’t an invasion of privacy (which is debatable, but a separate point).

90. Kathryn: Secondly, I disagree with you on “privacy invasions”. I think profiling is largely wrong and discriminatory, but I think each country has a duty to protect itself and its citizens. If your bag goes through a scanner and shows something suspicious (Such as a vibrator), then they have the responsibility – and legal right – to search your luggage to see what you’re carrying and if it poses a threat to them or the country of your destination, or perhaps you were just caught in random checks.

    As someone who occasionally wears army/navy surplus type accessories, I can understand something titled ‘The Magic Bullet’; would look suspicious to airport screeners, but there was no call for that note. If you went for a breast exam and as you were leaving the doctor said ‘nice tits, by the way,’ would you go to that doctor again?

91. krraank:
    The moment this story came to light two thingss were inevitable… regardless of who reported it.
    1. The story would circle the globe in the blink of an eye
    and
    2. The agent would face stern disciplinary actions.
    So, please, do not seem so surprised… least you wish to appear naive.

    It’s like none of these concern trolls reads anybody else’s comments. This point has already been made before, and been refuted just as many times. Listen up, anyone else looking to make this point:

    IT IS HARD TO PREDICT WHAT GOES VIRAL. It is NOT, in fact, a given that a story will “circle the globe in the blink of an eye.” Not even when it involves vibrators, or when it involves a woman who dares to Blog While Attractive.

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93. I think you can probably predict what is fairly likely to go viral, though. In this case, Jill is a fairly well known blogger, and the word “vibrator” was used in the story, as well as “TSA,” and it was on Twitter. All four of those things are slam dunk reasons to have a story spread around.

    Now, if I, Little Miss Anonymous, had the same story using the word TSA and vibrator, but only posted it on my blog that hardly anyone reads, it probably would not be a hit except for with Google.

    Popularity is power.

    1. I think you can probably predict what is fairly likely to go viral, though. In this case, Jill is a fairly well known blogger, and the word “vibrator” was used in the story, as well as “TSA,” and it was on Twitter. All four of those things are slam dunk reasons to have a story spread around.

       I’m not surprised it spread around. I wasn’t surprised to see it on local blogs like Gawker and Gothamist, who regularly cover this stuff. But really, I should have predicted that it would be on TV from here to South Africa to Greece to Australia? On The View? The Today Show? Fox News? Every major publication I can think of?

       Come on. I think it’s really ridiculous to suggest that a tweet — even from a blogger (although really, outside of pretty narrow feminist/political spheres, I’m not known at all), even about TSA and a vibrator — was guaranteed to be that huge.

94. Jennifer: I think you can probably predict what is fairly likely to go viral, though. In this case, Jill is a fairly well known blogger, and the word “vibrator” was used in the story, as well as “TSA,” and it was on Twitter. All four of those things are slam dunk reasons to have a story spread around.

    Okay, the levels of hindsight and confirmation bias around here are reaching staggering proportions (not to mention sour grapes). CHECK YOUR HEURISTICS, PEOPLE.

    I don’t think we’ve Godwinned this thread yet, but is Snacky’s Law imminent?

95. Popularity is power.

    Except that Jill didn’t try to make this viral, and didn’t want it to be, so what power are we talking about?

96. And I’d add that being “well known”* + vibrator + twitter does NOT = a recipe for going viral. As Jill has said, she has tweeted about vibrators before, and it never got this much attention. (But it didn’t involve the TSA…so I guess that HAS to be the magic ingredient here, right? :/)

    * Using Jennifer’s logic here—Jill, I know that you argued that you’re not really that well-known, and I’d agree, seeing the reactions of “LOOKS LIKE SOME CHICK BLOGGER JUST WANTS TO PROMOTE HER NEW BLOG LOL.”

97. In this economy I hope you’re proud you got someone fired. What a stupid thing to make a big deal out of. The TSA agent didn’t shove a dildo in your bag, knowing it would be handled by screeners. Who in their right mind brings something like that on an airplane with them anyway? I’m about as liberal as they come, but this is just stupid. You should be ashamed of yourself. I hope it tarnishes your reputation more than it helps your publicity on your shitty blog. The guy/lady was just having a gag, I’m sure it was embarrassing for them to find it. I just hoping they weren’t a dad or mom on verge of bankruptcy and foreclosure.

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99. I cannot believe that I am seeing anger over what Jill did. Further, I am disgusted by some of the statists comments here. Really? You think it is a good idea to have no fourth amendment rights, to readily hand over hard won victories that once free humanity had procured and died to protect in order to pass them down to us…their disgraceful progeny? I applaud Jill and everyone else that use their 1st amendment protections to illuminate the incredible dangers and inanities of our present circumstances. As for the matter to wish to resume privacy, don’t worry. Americans have incredibly short memories and will be following other dinosaur media bouncy balls in short order.

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101. If it is any consolation, I missed this going viral completely because I’m currently living in Mexico City. It doesn’t seem to be a story here. Hopefully, it will either go away quickly or someone will start questioning the bigger issues soon. Anyway Jill, I’ve been reading this blog for years and don’t comment often, but I wanted to say that I’m sorry this happened to you, and I think you are handling it really, really well.

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103. TSA was given too broad a mandate and has become even more intrusive and unaccountable. Forcing people to choose between overexposure to ionizing radiation or groping. Bad behavior by its employees, including theft. This last 9/11 I flew from SMF-DEN. Upon opening my suitcase that afternoon, I found a TSA notice inside… and that the 15 jars of homemade jam I had brought for family had become 13. Grr

104. Amelia ze lurker: Actually, Kathryn knows that. That’s why she STARTED her comment by saying she agreed completely with Jill: regarding the note. She’s just voicing the opinion that the search per se wasn’t an invasion of privacy (which is debatable, but a separate point).

     But Jill never said it was, so I don’t see where there’s any real disagreement.

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106. Ed:
     .911 was an inside job.http://www.infowars.com

     So-called “9/11 Truthers” are morons. All of them.

107. zuzu: But Jill never said it was, so I don’t see where there’s any real disagreement.

     I agree. I was just taking issue with your lecturing Kathryn on why the note was invasive, when Kathryn was already on board with that.

108. You put out a story involving sex and the TSA on Twitter and you didn’t expect a media circus. You’re new here, aren’t you?

109. Something has to be done to stop this did you know that Dyncorp and Tsa work together if there not one in the same if your not familiar with dyncorp here is a little bit of information about them rest you can easily lookup they have been convicted of selling young men and young women mostly little children into sex slavery Dyncorp also works with most CPS OFFICES I forget the exact number of children that comes up missing out OF Cps every year nut I remember it to be very high amount I have a suspicion wh
     That Dyncorp ended up with some of them….. If you have the power to stop this please do.

110. Youcantakeasmany“looks”asyouwant.ButIcanconceiveofnoplausiblescenariounderwhichthislunacycomestoanenduntilitbecomesclearthatyouwilllooseyourjobandlivelihoodwhenyouviolatetherightsofcitizens.Iftheybecomepersonally,criminallyliable,itwillhappenevenfaster.

     What you seem to be overlooking is the fact that the agent responsible for leaving the rude note, in all likelihood, is making $14 an hour (if that), and working FOR the very people at the heart of systematically destroying our constitutional protections. I agree with Jill; we need to “…look at why ‘security’ has been used to justify so many intrusions on our civil liberties.” Ultimately, it is The High Cabal.

     If the agent involved loses her/his job, it is simply the sacrifice of a pawn to appease the masses of sheep. The agent’s ultimate superior, The High Cabal, continues to carry out whatever it deems necessary to further the globalist agenda. Punishing the agent changes nothing other than making room for one more unemployed person to step up and perhaps do a better job. Those offended may feel a sense of validation having voiced their objections and seeing the low-life agent brought down, but it’s an empty win. A façade of justice served dupes our citizenry into believing that the ruling elite actually care about us and our human or constitutional rights. Under that camouflage, The Cabal herds us to shearing.

111. Thanks for that piece of wisdom, Reactivity! You’re totally not the first person to have blessed us with that insight!

112. -Peanuts-:
     Who in their right mind brings something like that on an airplane with them anyway?

     So I’m guessing you use your hand, then. Well, you take that on an airplane with you, don’t you?

     It’s been said before by other people, but deserves repeating: taking a vibe on a plane with you is NO different than taking an electric toothbrush, or a hairdryer, or any other appliance.

113. -Peanuts-:
     In this economy I hope you’re proud you got someone fired. What a stupid thing to make a big deal out of. The TSA agent didn’t shove a dildo in your bag, knowing it would be handled by screeners. Who in their right mind brings something like that on an airplane with them anyway? I’m about as liberal as they come, but this is just stupid. You should be ashamed of yourself. I hope it tarnishes your reputation more than it helps your publicity on your shitty blog. The guy/lady was just having a gag, I’m sure it was embarrassing for them to find it. I just hoping they weren’t a dad or mom on verge of bankruptcy and foreclosure.

     You’re obviously not as liberal as they come if you can’t understand why someone would feel like they could bring a vibrator with them without it, you know, being treated as something strange.

     More than that, why is it Jill’s responsibility to protect the jobs of people who are acting outside the realm of what their jobs entail?

     Seriously, I want an answer to that. I want to know why I or Jill or anyone else should not complain when someone steps outside the boundaries of what constitute good on-job behavior, even if it results in them being suspended or fired or written up. This is a terrible economy, and workers are being asked to take a lot of crap that they otherwise would have the opportunity to not, if there were other jobs available. However, that is not what happened here. What happened here is that someone was inappropriate, to the wrong (or rather, right) person. And that inappropriateness became a larger issue based on who’s vibrator it was.

     I don’t care what kind of economy it is – if you’ve screwed up on the job and your screw up affects me, then yes, you’re going to have to deal with the consequences of my complaining about you. So Jill’s got a stronger bullhorn than my usual irate e-mails. Not her fault. She didn’t write the note.

114. In this economy I hope you’re proud you got someone fired. What a stupid thing to make a big deal out of. The TSA agent didn’t shove a dildo in your bag, knowing it would be handled by screeners. Who in their right mind brings something like that on an airplane with them anyway? I’m about as liberal as they come, but this is just stupid. You should be ashamed of yourself. I hope it tarnishes your reputation more than it helps your publicity on your shitty blog. The guy/lady was just having a gag, I’m sure it was embarrassing for them to find it. I just hoping they weren’t a dad or mom on verge of bankruptcy and foreclosure.

     Er… nobody was fired?

     Also, you’re an idiot?

115. I don’t know. If you bring some weed on your airplane then technically you’re not harming anyone and it really should be your right to. But if the TSA finds out bad things are still going to happen to you. I think a vibrator is one of those items that could have been forbidden even a few decades ago and a sizable amount of people still believe it’s something to deride and mock.

     I obviously can’t tell if the TSA employee was in any way influenced by this, but it does kind of seem like an inappropriate thing to do and it’s not a surprise it happened after he found a sex toy, not after he discovered, say, a bible. Do you think a TSA employee would feel safe to make a lame religious joke if he found a bible? Or if he found a Harry Potter book, would he even bother making a silly “good luck in fantasy land” joke?

     Poor Jill though, having half the universe discussing her as the “get your freak on girl”.

116. Ehm, correction, the inappropriate thing was the note, not bringing the item.

117. Hmmm, I read this story off a link from Drudge and commented at the end that you were certainly lying about this incident. The whole thing is so outrageous that it’s frankly, unbelievable.

     I’m sorry about that. Given the acidic environment in this country, it’s terrible that even a happy and positive person like me is tending to think everyone is becoming jaded or biased or worse, a liar.

     Well, I’m thankful Jill, that you are a decent person, working hard, and hopefully everything will end in a way to make it a positive for you.

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119. -Peanuts-:
     In this economy I hope you’re proud you got someone fired.

     In this economy you’d think someone would take their job seriously enough to do it in an appropriate manner.

120. Ugh, enough with the “Poor TSA agent” crap. I work in customer service and if I were to make a comment regarding a customer’s sex life or masturbatory habits? You bet your ass I would be disciplined like woah and quite possibly would lose my job. Jobs come with JOB REQUIREMENTS. If you violate the requirements you can lose your job. If you do something highly inappropriate you should damn well face disciplinary action for it and if you lose your job, maybe it will go to someone who wants the job enough to not disrespect and violate customers.

121. Jill,

     I have seen now that they are going to fire the TSA agent, which means obviously you did not make this up. I still stand by my initial claim that people need to investigate stories deeper before buying into them hook line and sinker, however I can also admit that I was wrong in insinuating this wan’t a truthful story. I am sorry you had to go through something like this, as it is very disrespectful, and I apologize if my comments on a previous story caused you any grief or irritation.

122. Some of these posters’ barely concealed horror at the idea of women using/owning/transporting sex toys is so absurd. Like, do you really think that’s such an unusual thing to do? And the idea that a little, modest vibrator is the weirdest sex-related shit (let alone weird shit in general) that TSA agents could come across is someone’s luggage is totally preposterous. Also, LOL @ the indignant jerk posters who don’t know the difference between a dildo and a vibrator.

     Anyway. Sorry about all the fuss, Jill. It looks like you’ve handled it really well and people will get over it soon.

123. What happened to sense of humor and humanity???
     What is wrong with people like this woman that got somebody fired about humorous note? This woman needs to get a life

124. So, I’ve learned new things about trolls, besides the fact that they are predictable, really fucking stupid and should stick to rolling around in glue and glitter and then dance for us:

     1) They are really puritanical when it comes to ladysex, vibrators, or other things having to do with women getting off. Men getting off–totally OK. Hassling a man about his porn would be horrible and puritanical and anti-sex, but shaming a woman over a vibrator is totally okay. Women getting off–SHAMEFUL and UNSEEMLY. WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE COWERED IN A CORNER IN SHAME, WHERE IS YOUR DIGNITY ZOMG WHO WOULD BRING SUCH A THING ON A TRIP WITH THEM?

     Enough with the chest-clutching, douche-trolls. Ladies like to fuck. Ladies rub one out. Some ladies use vibrators for this purpose. Perhaps some of you are threatened by this, but you need to work that issue out on your own. Deal with it and get over your horror at such violations of the Rules of Decent Behavior for Proper Young Ladies. And if you can’t get over it, sip a mint julep and shut the fuck up.

     2) They do not know the difference between vibrators or dildos. Some also think vibrators are made of metal (???) and cost $5.

     3) They do not read. Either Jill is a humorless, victim-tripping harpy OR she’s an attention seeking bitch for having the gall to post a pic of the note with a one liner about how it was of course inappropriate but she was still laughing her head off in her hotel room.

     4) They prove their own points. Jill only wants hits, therefore, they come here and post. Ummmm. . .if you’re so convinced this is a bid for attention, you could turn yours elsewhere, trolls. Oddly enough, you just can’t help yourselves.

125. you are a moron if you think that this wouldn’t have gotten out to the media. i think you were looking for your 15 minutes of fame, got it, and are now ashamed of it. also the entire world knows now that you are indeed a freak.

126. outrageandsprinkles:
     outrageandsprinkles 10.28.2011 at 7:11 am

     Ugh, enough with the “Poor TSA agent” crap. I work in customer service and if I were to make a comment regarding a customer’s sex life or masturbatory habits? You bet your ass I would be disciplined like woah and quite possibly would lose my job. Jobs come with JOB REQUIREMENTS. If you violate the requirements you can lose your job. If you do something highly inappropriate you should damn well face disciplinary action for it and if you lose your job, maybe it will go to someone who wants the job enough to not disrespect and violate customers.

     I read a community elsewhere about tales of bad service, and occasionally someone will crop up with this nonsense.  “How dare you complain about [something horridly inappropriate that a worker’s done]!  They might lose their job, and that’s terrible in this economy!”

     Hey, in this economy, there’s a freakin’ queue of people who would be more than happy to (a) take that job and (b) not fuck it up.  Not to mention, one would think that people would be more likely to be as professional as possible, given this economy.

     (tl;dr: This.  ^^ )

127. The justification we’ve been given for the intrusive searches is that they are necessary to keep us safe.

     That justification is a lie, though. They know it, we know it. Which means it isn’t any different than them just doing it with no justification.

128. Wow, you turned an offhand comment about a sex toy into a commentary on civil liberties. Get over yourself.

129. Do we know that it was a guy? As a card carrying heterosexual male, I would have put my phone number on that card. The comment sounds like it was written by a woman.
     Just guessin’.

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131. TSA is an absurd organization formed 100% out of the collective fear and a lack of understanding about those that deem to control the people.

     Dont give this ridiculous event another thought. Onward and upward unless one get mired in the old vibration. embrace the new world.

     One last comment along the lines of vibration….for those of us using profanity and vulgarity (including myself at times), wouldnt we be better served by finding a more respectful way to interact with not only others but ourselves? No, folks its not cool, it doesnt make you look anything except angry and frightened, which is way far from empowered and enlightened.

     All the best.

132. yes!

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134. .

     MORAL: a little sillyness can become a federal case

     reminds me of my return from a bachelor party in montreal after a week of partying enough being enough when asked what can i do to turn you on i said “pack my luggage” next morning hungover passing TSA 1) no i didn’t pack my own luggage and 2) a couple of hookers packed it – well after the flurry of activity and commotion settled and with the help of my florida neighbors as FBI and customs agent, I was let loose none the worse for wear BUT that sillyness coulda been a big black mark on my permanent record

     we have bigger issues in this regard and overreaction on all sides is the rule so be careful being silly

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ft liquordale soFLA 33316

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136. .

     meanwhile know this fact here:

     anything with WIRES as a component part WILL get the immediate attention of those conscientious TSA agents and i would guess this TSA agent was relieved to find the object benign BUT as a result of high initial anxiety may have been compeled to leave the official notice with a personal note

     i am NOT defending TSA only inserting a possible reasonable explaination and when i think of it i would rather TSA error on the side of going to far than not far enough

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ft lauderdale FL 33316

137. Like other posters have said, she put this info out for her own motive. I have my beliefs as to why but I question her explaination. I couldn’t find any blogs that addressed the civil rights issue with the TSA searches prior to this. All I saw was a lot of man bashing blogs. Frankly, I like the added safety they provide when I fly. There is a way to avoid the TSA infringing upon your rights…..take the bus when you travel. (BTW, why would you condem the “Hot Girls of the Occupy….” video saying men should have guilt over admiring pretty women but yet you cake on the make-up and jewelry? Seems hypocritical to me. Don’t bother answering as I’m confident I’ll never see it.)

138. .

     AS TO THE attention given the attention

     i don’t know JILL personally and i really don’t get tweeting and facemailing and other interactive yet IMpersonal connections, BUT isn’t the idea of posting to be followed by many “friends” ?

     and isn’t any reason for the increase in traffic the method to utilize ?

     and doesn’t it NOT matter what the content is ?

     and wasn’t it more than co-incidental that all this happened before a public appearance rather than at the end of the trip when TSA could have been approached in a non-public inquiry ?

     and doesn’t JILL realize the US and Europe have different electrical standards and her toy might not plug in over there ? (pun intended)

     and finally, i certainly would have advised JILL to introduce TRINITY by leon uris rather than ULYSSES by james joyce as my initial suggestion on DUBLINERS, as the former is easier to digest and the latter like haggis to the uninitiated

     anyway that’s that from me

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

139. Bobby: here is a way to avoid the TSA infringing upon your rights…..take the bus when you travel.

     Yeah Jill! Take the Chinatown Express bus from Manhattan to Dublin if you don’t want the internet to harass you.

140. Ceres: I don’t know. If you bring some weed on your airplane then technically you’re not harming anyone and it really should be your right to. But if the TSA finds out bad things are still going to happen to you. I think a vibrator is one of those items that could have been forbidden even a few decades ago and a sizable amount of people still believe it’s something to deride and mock.

     All the people who are telling Jill to shut up about this, or that she wants attention — not to mention anyone who says she should be embarrassed to have brought a vibe on a plane (or shouldn’t have been embarrassed to get the note since she traveled with a vibe (Hi Whoopi!)) — are trying to enforce the idea that using a vibrator is something to be ashamed about.

     1. You know Ceres, a lot of people deride and mock adult diapers, too. But if a TSA agent left a note saying “Have fun peeing your pants!,” i think people would be rightly upset.

141. Kyle, everything about our civil liberties is about our civil liberties. Liberty isn’t an abstraction. It’s about how we live our lives. It’s about taking our shoes off and traveling with our sex toys, being secure in our private papers and possessions against the intrusion of the agents of the State.

142. “if a TSA agent left a note saying “Have fun peeing your pants!,” i think people would be rightly upset”

     Quoted for truth!

     No benefit we have received from the Department of Homeland Security is worth the liberties that have been taken from us.

143. Jon Carry: Do we know that it was a guy? As a card carrying heterosexual male, I would have put my phone number on that card.

     Because nothing turns a woman on more than knowing that some guy has gone through her luggage and manhandled her vibrator.

     You must have great success with that kind of strategy.

144. Bobby: There is a way to avoid the TSA infringing upon your rights…..take the bus when you travel.

     Not a whole lot of bus lines between New York and Ireland, dipshit.

145. frankD:
     .

     ASTOTHEattentiongiventheattention

     idon’tknowJILLpersonallyandireallydon’tgettweetingandfacemailingandotherinteractiveyetIMpersonalconnections,BUTisn’ttheideaofpostingtobefollowedbymany“friends”?

     andisn’tanyreasonfortheincreaseintrafficthemethodtoutilize?

     anddoesn’titNOTmatterwhatthecontentis?

     andwasn’titmorethanco-incidentalthatallthishappenedbeforeapublicappearanceratherthanattheendofthetripwhenTSAcouldhavebeenapproachedinanon-publicinquiry?

     anddoesn’tJILLrealizetheUSandEuropehavedifferentelectricalstandardsandhertoymightnotpluginoverthere?(punintended)

     andfinally,icertainlywouldhaveadvisedJILLtointroduceTRINITYbyleonurisratherthanULYSSESbyjamesjoyceasmyinitialsuggestiononDUBLINERS,astheformeriseasiertodigestandthelatterlikehaggistotheuninitiated

     anywaythat’sthatfromme

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordalesoFLA33316

     And doesn’t this dude realize that it would be a fifty-fifty chance on whether this would happen on the way there or the way back?

     And doesn’t this dude realize that most vibrators run on batteries?

     And doesn’t this dude realize that things such as plug converters are sold at international airports?

     And doesn’t he realize that his commenting style is really silly?

     1. The whole “Let me discuss Jill as if she’s not the one who wrote this post” is really bizarre — it kind of feels like someone is talking about you in the third person when you’re in the room.

146. I read today that the female TSA agent who wrote the note (that I consider a joke) is going to be fired. She is a convenient scapegoat. Those in power will always find one. The lesson here is that anything you put out for public view – your body, your posessions, your thoughts is fair game for the entire world. TSA agents are allowed to go through luggage, thus, anything there can be viewed. I have no quarrel with the searches because… I have a cousin (CIA foreign crypyology boss) who warned Bush of imminent attacks by air and another cousin who was on the first plane that hit the Towers. I am willing to have my luggage searched. I have learned to pack wisely. Jill, you might want to take the sage advice that a friend gives to her children – “Your hand is your best friend!”

147. If we could just use asshole to turn water into steam, we could hook this thread up to a turbine and finally end our dependence on fossil fuels.

148. Sheelzebub: 2) They do not know the difference between vibrators or dildos. Some also think vibrators are made of metal (???) and cost $5.

     This one costs $15 and is partially made of metal…
     http://store.babeland.com/sexy-gear/babeland-silver-bullet
     And anyone who refers to it as a dildo must have an incredibly weird shaped penis.

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150. I couldn’t find any blogs that addressed the civil rights issue with the TSA searches prior to this.

     As I said, these trolls just don’t read. And apparently live under rocks.

151. Lockerbee was not security theater, nor was Oklahoma City, or the World Trade Center… there are a lot of sick puppies out there, frankly I’m glad we have TSA and the screeners even if some one does something stupid from time to time.

152. Dear Jill: is it worth the individual loosing a job? Another of the analogies in this forum suggesting it would be wrong to comment, “hope you pee your pants” for an individual packing diapers is missleading because a bladder issue is more of a disability, not a sexual choice, like having a vibrator. Leaving a vibrator in your luggage, in this age where anything can be inspected, as smart a person as you are (knowing full well the lack of privacy we have as travelers) it seems more like a “set up” in order to make a point. Perhaps that, as a woman, you can be overtly sexuall, as you are in much or your dress and manerisms as viewed on the internet, but that nobody has the right to comment on it. You seem to want what is impossible these days, ultimate freedom and anonimity, exclusion from comment, judgemental or otherwise. Could not you have asked that the indivdual who wrote the note be counselled, repremanded, or otherwise disciplined without job loss…..especially since it provided you with a great laugh (something in such short supply these days, many people pay for it)?

153. From Bobby the Troll at 126:

     “I couldn’t find any blogs that addressed the civil rights issue with the TSA searches prior to this. All I saw was a lot of man bashing blogs. Frankly, I like the added safety they provide when I fly.”

     Bahahahaha.
     It’s nice to know the skies are so much safer thanks to the added protection provided by man bashing blogs.

154. Bobby: Bobby 10.28.2011 at 12:58 pm
     Like other posters have said, she put this info out for her own motive. I have my beliefs as to why but I question her explaination. I couldn’t find any blogs that addressed the civil rights issue with the TSA searches prior to this. All I saw was a lot of man bashing blogs. Frankly, I like the added safety they provide when I fly. There is a way to avoid the TSA infringing upon your rights…..take the bus when you travel. (BTW, why would you condem the “Hot Girls of the Occupy….” video saying men should have guilt over admiring pretty women but yet you cake on the make-up and jewelry? Seems hypocritical to me. Don’t bother answering as I’m confident I’ll never see it.)

     How do you cake on jewelry?

155. Thomas MacAulay Millar: If we could just use asshole to turn water into steam, we could hook this thread up to a turbine and finally end our dependence on fossil fuels.

     If we’re going to have steampunk trolls, I want mine to power an airship.

156. Headline update: TSA Agent to be fired.

     I sure hope your dildo was worth someone’s job.

157. “If we’re going to have steampunk trolls, I want mine to power an airship.”

     Rigid-framed and helium-filled I would assume. A troll-powered dirigible! That would be kind of awesome for getting away for weekends and mooring at the top of skyscrapers and whatnot.

158. EG: \
     And doesn’t this dude realize that things such as plug converters are sold at international airports?

     Actually, a caveat regarding this last: it’s probably better to take a battery vibe with you. I tried to use my Hitachi in France* with a converter, and it shorted out the electricity in the apartment AND made the vibe explode (seriously, there was a burning smell). Had to call the electrician and the Hitachi was ruined forever. So be careful with things that plug in.

     *ATTN: trolls—Hitachis are expensive and would have been more so in Europe; as for whether I couldn’t have just gone without, well, I was there for a year, so you do the math. Also, an object lesson in dildos vs. vibrators: a Hitachi Magic Wand is not a dildo. It is a clitoral vibrator. You see, women don’t always want to use a penis-shaped object to get off; they may not even want to use penetration to get off! The More You Know!

159. you should feel really proud that another American lost their job, for you taking things too seriously..its obvious that if they check your bags they were going to see all of your belongings.. so you knew they were going to see it..the whole security and privacy bullshit is overrated..get used to it..it was put there for a reason after 911..but then again people are never happy..if we had no security they would be talking and now that we do people still talk shit..people and their freaking twitter and FB they love posting every shit that crosses their path..lame smh

160. I agree with the violation of privite properity on this. My wife and I have toys but afraid to take on trips that include planes for this reason. I do feel bad for the person getting fired, in their own way was just showing appriciation ( I hope it was that and not a perverted statemnet) for the fact but was inappropriate appriciation.

161. Ok, to everyone who is like, “ARE YOU HAPPY NOW THAT YOU GOT A TSA AGENT FIRED?!?!?!,” did you even read the post? I explicitly said I did not want anyone fired for this. I do think it’s appropriate for TSA to look at its policies and practices — I think that’s appropriate for any institution that has near-total authority over a certain sector of our lives.

     That said, I did not “get anyone fired.” I put up a photo of a TSA slip that was left in my bag. The fact that a TSA agent wrote something that violated TSA guidelines on that slip is not my fault, and I’m not going to act like it is. Yes, I put it in the public eye. Yes, we live in a culture where a lot of women would be embarrassed to go public with something like this. Yes, I am entirely naive that I thought we were all grown-ups here and could recognize that sexuality is a part of adult life, and no matter what is in your bag, the TSA shouldn’t be leaving you notes about it. And yes, I laughed when I found the note, because the whole situation is so ridiculous! I did not think it would spin this far out of control. Now that it has, however, I do refuse to accept that it’s my “fault” that someone was terminated for breaking the rules of their job. I feel genuinely terrible that they were terminated — that wasn’t my intention, I am not happy about this, and if I could go back in time I would — but as bad as I feel, I also am not going to say that I’m personally responsible. I didn’t make anyone write that note. All I did was shed light on a situation that happened.

     Again: I don’t think this person should have been fired over one mistake, and I’d prefer that this discussion were more about security practices generally than this one incident. But let’s not act like I’m the one who threw this person to the wolves.

162. When I heard about this, I was appalled. If terrorism, by definition, is any action that prevents a person from going about their everyday business, then the TSA is the epitome of terrorism. We no longer can carry shampoo and such in our luggage. We have to arrive three hours early in order to make the plane on time. We have to put up with invasive x-rays and pat downs. Some of us, including myself, have limited our travels because of the invasive pat downs. Now we can’t even carry a personal item in our suitcases because of the embarrassment that we would feel knowing that a stranger happened upon it when they inspected our baggage. Truly, this is terrorism, an invasion of our privacy, and a constriction of our rights as citizens of the United States. Osama is dead. Let’s move on, protect our borders, and quit invading the privacy of and stepping on the rights of the American people.

163. Sorry, I didn’t read all the postings before I posted. Jill, you did not cause that person to lose his job.

     This is a problem inherent in American society; it is called ‘blame another’. Basically, it involves the person who did the wrong not taking responsibility for her/his action. That’s a big word for Americans – responsibility. It means that you own what you say, do, think, etc. You don’t say, ‘If so and so wouldn’t have posted it on their blog or Twitter, I (he) would still have a job’.

     In the same vein, people reading about this should not be posting that it is your fault. You brought an oppressive act into the public realm.

     Why do I call the act of writing the note oppressive?

     Well, women have been oppressed since the beginning of time. They are still oppressed. Oppression means that they are not able to do what people of the other gender do without repercussions.

     Take, for example, walking the dog at night. A man could safely walk their dog in a suburban area at night, around 10 PM, without problems. A woman, on the other hand, would maybe call their neighbor and ask her to join the walk. Or she may load up her handgun and take it with. Or she may just opt for putting the dog out the back on a leash.

     Why? Because women must change the way they act in order to protect themselves. Men have little need to do that. (I am not saying men are not subject to crime, just saying that women are easy prey for criminals and they know it.) If oppression means that one group has to act differently than another group, in this case different genders, then women are definitely oppressed. I think the case of rape, where the woman is accused of bringing it on because of what she wore, is another great example.

     So, what does this have to do with a personal item. If that personal item was in the suitcase of a man, do you think that the TSA agent would have written that note?

     That TSA agent probably thought, somewhere in his little brain, that this is a woman and women don’t discuss these things, so I am going to write this on the inspection slip because I am safe. He found out differently.

     All I can say is ‘Bravo’.

164. Nah

     I sure hope the agent thought that dumbass note was worth their job. Since, you know, they’re the one who acted inappropriately. Odd how according to the mouth-breathing hordes of Teh Wimmins Getting Off Is Icky brigade, the only person here who should be ashamed and take responsibility (for apparently, posting about a creepy ass note) is Jill, not the person whose actions were, well, creepy and inappropriate.

165. Jill: Now that it has, however, I do refuse to accept that it’s my “fault” that someone was terminated for breaking the rules of their job.

     Exactly so. I’m disconcerted by the amount of shame that is being heaped on you for daring to be open and accepting of your sexuality. Too many people are implying that you deserved to receive any treatment someone cares to dish out if you deviate from what they consider appropriate behavior. It is straight up bullshit.

     That said, you have handled this situation with tremendous aplomb and I respect you greatly.

166. That said, you have handled this situation with tremendous aplomb and I respect you greatly.

     Seconded.

167. frankD: and doesn’t JILL realize the US and Europe have different electrical standards and her toy might not plug in over there ? (pun intended)

     I still can’t find the pun. I have been reading and re-reading this stupid comment, and I still can’t find the pun. Is it like one of those magic eye things? Do I need to squint? (Or, wait, is it the idea that Jill has a 220 volt vadge?)

     In the immortal words of Bobby, though:

     Bobby: Don’t bother answering as I’m confident I’ll never see it.

     I have a feeling that TNTT this year might be a stacked deck.

     1. I still can’t find the pun. I have been reading and re-reading this stupid comment, and I still can’t find the pun. Is it like one of those magic eye things? Do I need to squint? (Or, wait, is it the idea that Jill has a 220 volt vadge?)

        The difference in voltage did melt the tip of my curling iron, no joke. I need to replace that too now.

168. -Peanuts-:
     In this economy I hope you’re proud you got someone fired. What a stupid thing to make a big deal out of. The TSA agent didn’t shove a dildo in your bag, knowing it would be handled by screeners. Who in their right mind brings something like that on an airplane with them anyway? I’m about as liberal as they come, but this is just stupid. You should be ashamed of yourself. I hope it tarnishes your reputation more than it helps your publicity on your shitty blog. The guy/lady was just having a gag, I’m sure it was embarrassing for them to find it. I just hoping they weren’t a dad or mom on verge of bankruptcy and foreclosure.

     I actually hope they were, they should have appreciated that they even had a job if they have a family to support. Let him/her explain to their kid why mom/dad isn’t working: “I went into someone elses property and left an inappropriate note, yes my job is to go thru the stuff but I wasn’t professional by what I did” BTW, I’m a guy and I have packed dildos in my luggage when my wife’s bags were full.

     1. And one more time, all together now: I AM NOT PROUD OR HAPPY THAT ANYONE GOT FIRED.

169. But Jill! ARE YOU HAPPY? RECESSION! DESTROYING JOBS! OCCUPY FEMINISTE!

170. Oh, Jill. It’s already been established that trolls don’t read and are a bit on the stupid side. These bags of dumpster cheese aren’t posting in good faith. They are like birthers or climate change deniers.

171. Also, def just saw that the tag says “Terra.” I miss that fucker’s speeches. All for the lulz.

172. i have no response for Jill. not worth mentioning as we all can see she takes ego to new heights.

     however, for all of you upset at her for being so naive to think the note wouldn’t go viral. please, please, PLEASE quit commenting (i know, i’m a hypocrite) and adding fuel to this thing.

     it’s clear this Jill enjoys the attention because if she really wanted out of the spotlight or not to have this conversation continue, she wouldn’t be every fifth post on this thread.

     and if she responds to this or any further posts, you know i’m right. thanks Jill for being so clever and stupid at the same time. truly, if it weren’t so annoying, it’d be endearing.

173. Generally management fires someone who is the public martyr – except that in this case, it was just some “random TSA Agent”. I don’t see why they had to fire the person – educate, give them a different role, use this situation to explain to all TSA agents that their job isn’t to judge or joke about our contents.

     I also LOVE how well people can read, looking at the trackbacks for this. “Apology not enough”….when the hell did you ever say that? And the person was suspended, that doesn’t mean fired. That just means suspended.

174. This one’s for the trolls.

     Before you go on about why Jill’s a job destroyer or why she is somehow helping the terrorists win by packing a vibrator in a post-9/11 world, ask yourself: “What would the Founding Fathers think?”

     Seriously. What do you think they’d think of the fact that the government checks our luggage, and then casts judgement on what we’re packing? Don’t you think they’d be outraged that the government forms official opinions about what we do behind closed doors (because a note on an official Homeland Security note is in essence an official notification)?

     Worse, don’t you think they’re rolling over in their graves that people are pointing fingers at Jill for saying publicly what too many women would be too embarrassed and intimidated to say, when we should really be holding our government accountable for overstepping its bounds?

175. Also, Jill didn’t complain to the TSA, right? If I am reading the post and the TSA blog correctly, Jill tweeted a picture of the note and then TSA got wind of it after the tweet got some attention.

     I know they’re trolls but it’s totally bizarre to me how these people can come on here waxing indignant about a set of facts that bears no relationship to reality.

     I am a little unnerved by the main stream media coverage of this. I just saw the bit on the View on Youtube, and I am pretty disappointed in Whoopi’s blame-the-victim tone as well as her mischaracterization of Jill’s stance on the issue. I absolutely love that Jill is not even slightly embarrassed to talk about traveling with her vibrator — and frustrated that the idiots out there seem intent on casting her as such.

176. (Although the Founding Fathers would probably first be asking, “What the hell’s a vibrator? And how the hell does that contraption work?!?”)

177. jenn: (Although the Founding Fathers would probably first be asking, “What the hell’s a vibrator? And how the hell does that contraption work?!?”)

     Actually they had clock work ones even back then.

178. As a man, I think Jill was perfectly within her rights to post the note that was left in her baggage. She did not get the person fired, they brought that on themselves by making the comment. She has the right to have whatever she wants to carry in her luggage without someone making sexually crude comments.

     Jill, anyone who criticizes you, regardless of gender, for sharing your beliefs and opinions needs to stop being judgemental.

179. Can I point something out at this juncture? As someone who suffers from chronic sinusitis, those magic bullet vibrators are amazing for relieving sinus headaches. (By sticking them on your face, not anywhere intimate of course.)

180. Jill, I agree with Michael, but can I add one more thing… I wouldn’t have found your site without this story. I think you’re witty, smart, sex positive and a role model for how I want to engage and think about the daily occurrences in my own life.

     I know for a fact that I’m not nearly as brave as you are about my own life or its details… but 🙂 when it’s important… and I think this was–for the reason you stated about government intrusion into our privacy… I will try to be more open and more vocal. Thank you for having the courage to be open about a private part of your life to help us all to be more aware. I’m deeply sorry for any upset this has caused you. I know you never thought anyone would be able to track down who sent this… (I never would’ve thought it either!)
     Anyway… Enjoy Ireland… and your life and I’ll visit here often. 🙂
     –Dave

181. Fat Steve: Can I point something out at this juncture? As someone who suffers from chronic sinusitis, those magic bullet vibrators are amazing for relieving sinus headaches. (By sticking them on your face, not anywhere intimate of course.)

     HAHAHAHA…I thought I was the only one who did that.

182. For starters, I am only using the name Skeptical for continuity. I am no longer skeptical about this story as I stated before. However I wanted to address a few things I’ve read.

     1) flying without having your bags checked isn’t a civil liberty, as flying isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. It sucks, but it’s the truth. Much like if you enter a courthouse, you’ll be searched, if you fly, you open the door to being searched.

     2) having said that, no one should have to go through what Jill did. Saying that she packed the vibrator so she opened the door to it is like saying she was raped because she was dressed too sexily. Anyone can bring whatever they want, within legal reasoning, and it is not the TSA or Airport security’s place to pass judgement or make comments about it. Their job is to inspect for hazardous goods, not be perverts and write creepy notes.

     3) anyone who says Jill got this person fired needs to reevaluate their sense of personal accountability. We are all responsible for our own actions, and this TSA agent stepped out of line and is now paying the price. That’s all there is to it. You do stupid shit like this and you run the chance of being fired. The solution? DON’T DO IT!

     Finally, no one deserves what Jill received. It was out of line, and since it was true, I fully support the termination of the TSA agent.

183. alot of posters assume the note writer meant the comment to be a negative shaming comment, or that the writer was male and gettign some creepy jollies about possibly offending some random traveler. I think it is equally possible she/he did not. That it was possibly a woman making a sex-positive comment albeit she should not do so to random strangers in our culture because someone might get offended and we must these days live in an offense free society.

     Enjoy some Missy Elliot:

     http://www.lyricsdepot.com/missy-elliott/get-your-freak-on.html

     http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=freak%20nasty&defid=2614014

     As for the privacy aspects, carry on baggage has been subject to x-ray for years and they do open it when they see something, as I found out when U.S. Customs riffled through my dirty laundry bag looking for the boxed souvenirs I had put in there. So what’s the fuss about checked baggage now? As long as TSA leaves the non gun, bomb and drug toting passengers alone and note free..we’re all fine.

184. Wow, I hope your happy with the media attention this has gotten you. The TSA employee has not only been fired, but she has been banned from any Federal Govt service, which is the same administrative sanction as would have applied if she allowed a dangerous item in the luggage.

     Doubt she is a single lawyer and blogger who can just move on to the next thing. Too bad for her and anyone who relies on her income that you don’t have a sense of humor and wanted your 10 seconds of fame at her expense.

185. That it was possibly a woman making a sex-positive comment albeit she should not do so to random strangers in our culture because someone might get offended and we must these days live in an offense free society.

     No, we must do our jobs in a professional way. And not for nothing, but some of us thought it could have been a woman, and that the note could have been meant in a jokey way. However, it still wasn’t appropriate, it wasn’t professional, and the agent should have focused on their job and not scrawling notes. WEIRD, I know.

186. Pingback: TSA takes a break from groping to suspend employee who left “encouraging” note to vacationing blogger « Sussex County Angel

187. Henry: alot of posters assume the note writer meant the comment to be a negative shaming comment, or that the writer was male and gettign some creepy jollies about possibly offending some random traveler.

     Leaving a personal note of any kind on the “Someone has inspected your baggage” notice is inappropriate.

188. Sheelzebub:
     That said, you have handled this situation with tremendous aplomb and I respect you greatly.
     Seconded.

     Thirded.

     Look, I very rarely fly anywhere, but reading all of this has given me this crazy urge to pack a suitcase full of sex toys of every kind and fly to some random cheap destination. Someone else way up there in the comments mentioned that you (Jill) have an opportunity to use your voice here. Tweet it with a #packyoursextoys and capitalize on this ridiculous publicity. Flood the TSA with sex toys! Maybe that’s a better hashtag? #floodtheTSAwithsextoys! Cum one, cum all! Show your solidarity by packing a vibrator/dildo/plastic vagina, etc., etc.! I’m tired of this “shame on you for owning and perhaps even (gasp!) using a vibrator!” bullshit that so many people are trying to push after hearing this story. Fuck that! We women are sexual beings, people. And as far as I’m concerned, Jill, I think you could really do some good things here for advancing that idea. Turn that TSA-contaminated vibrator into a necklace and wear it proudly!

189. Pingback: TOY FOR VIP » Blog Archive » TSA to fire Newark screener who left note about sex toy

190. Hey Henry, I’m pretty sure most of us here were alive in 2001 and thus have probably at some point heart that Missy Elliot song. Believe it or not, I have heard the song many times and still found the note offensive. Even if it was written by a woman. Strange, huh?

     1. it’s clear this Jill enjoys the attention because if she really wanted out of the spotlight or not to have this conversation continue, she wouldn’t be every fifth post on this thread.

        and if she responds to this or any further posts, you know i’m right. thanks Jill for being so clever and stupid at the same time. truly, if it weren’t so annoying, it’d be endearing.

        So wait, if I respond to this post or any further posts on MY OWN BLOG, now I’m seeking attention? Jesus.

        You’ll notice that I haven’t accepted any TV or radio interviews, I’ve copied and pasted the same statement to every single reporter who has emailed me instead of giving them an interview, and I haven’t commented on a single website or blog other than my own. But sure, I’m running around begging for attention.

191. Sheelzebub:
     That said, you have handled this situation with tremendous aplomb and I respect you greatly.
     Seconded.

     Same here.

192. Wow…this is a REAL turn-on…LOL

193. Jill: So wait, if I respond to this post or any further posts on MY OWN BLOG, now I’m seeking attention? Jesus.

     You’ll notice that I haven’t accepted any TV or radio interviews, I’ve copied and pasted the same statement to every single reporter who has emailed me instead of giving them an interview, and I haven’t commented on a single website or blog other than my own. But sure, I’m running around begging for attention.

     Oh please make it TV!…I bet you are H-O-T!…LOL…

194. So wait, if I respond to this post or any further posts on MY OWN BLOG, now I’m seeking attention? Jesus.

     Jill, it’s been established that these aren’t particularly bright people. The trolls express outrage over your supposed bid for attention, yet they post on your blog (thus, you know, upping the hit count) and. . .give you attention.

     It’s like they’re getting their doctorate in nuclear stupid or something.

     Troll–just a synonym for stupid. And that goes for douchetastic “please” upthread.

195. .

     ….”Yes, I put it in the public eye.”….JILL

     well now that we know it was a FEMALE TSA agent who was fired all the male haters can apologize for their negative remarks against men

     and also since the devise had WIRES it was appropriate to be inspected by TSA so we can understand a female TSA agent didn’t just become enamoured with a sex toy

     as the official TSA notice was in spanish and the note was handwritten in english by a female i am not sure of the connection (why not the handwritten note written in spanish?)

     by putting the above in the public eye in real time what was overlooked was this is a woman to woman thing and ironically it brought about many women who seem to be bashing the masculine side of the TSA

     again history is ignored but if you educate yourself about women nazi prison guards at the death camps you may be surprised at what you learn

     what was put in the public eye was a silly error of judgement that proved fatal to a perticular female TSA agent, injurious to ALL male TSA agents and i predict become another knee-jerk report that zoomed out of all proportion to the original intent

     and now JILL wants her ball back

     sorry

     the problem with real time posting is that it offers no time to contemplate and reflect on ones words – and the potential damage beyond reason they may cause

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA

196. .

     BTW

     jerry springer just called

     you’re on next tuesday

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftlauderdale soFLA 33316

     .

197. Jill,

     Just read your story on CNN… and then found your blog. You’re considerably more thoughtful than most of the people running this country… ever considered running for office? I think that conversation (about security in the post-9/11 world) needs to happen, and good for you for trying to make it happen.

198. So… many… misogynists….

199. .

     ….”So yes, the GUY did something stupid intentionally. HE also works in a field that gives HIM near universal discretion to behave badly. That’s a problem worth talking about.”…..JILL

     Hmmmm…..

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

200. I am really taken aback at the sheer stupidity of some of these trolls. I mean, let’s look at this right here:

     again history is ignored but if you educate yourself about women nazi prison guards at the death camps you may be surprised at what you learn

     So…he’s comparing TSA agents to nazi death camp guards…but Jill’s the one blowing things out of proportion? And…what precisely would I be surprised about? That…women can be genocidal, anti-semitic, sadistic scum? Yeah, I knew that. And what does that have to do with Jill’s post or experiences? Oh, right. Nothing.

     what was put in the public eye was a silly error of judgement that proved fatal to a perticular female TSA agent

     I like the idea that it “proved fatal” to the TSA agent. Jill, you’re not just responsible for this person getting fired, NOW YOU’VE KILLED HER. I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY NOW.

     As to those who say that flying is a privilege–that’s willfully overlooking the very real professional requirements many people have to fly, to say nothing of the fact that I don’t believe that the Bill of Rights protects us from unreasonable search and seizure unless we’re exercising a privilege (“See, it’s OK if the TSA agents search your bags every time you buy a ticket for the Carousel in Central Park, because riding a carousel is not a right, it’s a privilege…”). I’m pretty sure it just protects us from unreasonable search and seizure.

201. Leaving the note was not a breach of Jill’s privacy it was the initial search that breached her privacy.

     From the outset it was clearly a woman that wrote the note (I was willing to put money on this, see my earlier post) and any fool could tell this beat-up would end up in a sacking.

     The woman made a mistake in an attempt at a ‘girl’ joke and has lost her livelihood as a result.

     This is a perfect example of the lack of insight that college educated privilege can lead to.

     Jill do you really think this ‘offense’ justified removing the security this woman had in her employment?

     1. This is a perfect example of the lack of insight that college educated privilege can lead to.

        Jill do you really think this ‘offense’ justified removing the security this woman had in her employment?

        For the love of christ, READ THE POST. I said, in the post and about 10 times now in the comments, no I did not want the TSA agent fired. I do not know how much more clear I can be.

        1. Also, to future commenters who can’t be bothered to read the post and want to insist that i am a horrible selfish bitch who clearly wanted this media circus to happen and revels in getting people fired, this is for you: http://awesomelyluvvie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/BeyNoFuck.gif

202. Pingback: TSA disciplines inspector who left “freak” note in baggage | ChrisInMaryville's Blog

203. .

     OT OT OT

     “So…he’s comparing TSA agents to nazi death camp guards”

     EG,

     read the whole text including the paragraph immediately above and you will get the CONTEXT of that comment

     by taking this out of CONTEXT you can distort the message and like you did, misinterpret the tone

     my comparision is NOT to TSA agents but females to other females who can be as mean or nasty to each other or more, than any men

     the TSA agent involved with the handwritten note is female however a number of posts here bashed male TSA agents – those are the real trolls who post before ALL the facts are in

     this incident is wholey a woman to woman thing and should be focused on accordingly

     something IMHO even Jill did not respect initially

     CONTEXT matters

     sorry for the OT post …..we now return to our regularly scheduled program…..

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

204. The context does not change the comparison you made, between TSA agents and Nazi death camp guards.

     Now, I suspect you were trying to counter the argument that only men do bad things by bringing up female Nazis. That would indeed be a salient point….if anybody had made the argument that only men do bad things. Since nobody did, it’s just a very silly comparison.

205. .

     well just one more OT OT OT

     I like the idea that it “proved fatal” to the TSA agent. Jill, you’re not just responsible for this person getting fired, NOW YOU’VE KILLED HER. I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY NOW.

     what was put in the public eye was a silly error of judgement that proved fatal to a perticular female TSA agent, injurious to ALL male TSA agents and i predict become another knee-jerk report that zoomed out of all proportion to the original intent

     EG,

     if you compare and contrast the use of “fatal” in both paragraphs above, you will see again CONTEXT is important

     IMHO apologies are required to many, certainly ALL male TSA agents who were falsely accused of “manhandling” private feminent items and otherwise “abusing” their authority (and yes this is another indirect reference to female nazi prison guards who perpetrated unmentionable horror in abusing their authority)

     and of course in this economy it is NOT a stretch to see being out of a job as “fatal” in a financial CONTEXT

     for all the legalese you espouse – shouldn’t the punishment fit the crime ? – what if this female ex-TSA agent has a family to support ?

     sorry again for the OT post

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftlauderdale soFLA33316

206. .

     EG,

     last call this is what was meant;

     [B]my comparision is NOT to TSA agents but females to other females who can be as mean or nasty to each other or more, than any men[/B]

     period

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

207. Jill: I feel genuinely terrible that they were terminated — that wasn’t my intention, I am not happy about this, and if I could go back in time I would — but as bad as I feel, I also am not going to say that I’m personally responsible. I didn’t make anyone write that note. All I did was shed light on a situation that happened.

     Anyone who reads this blog regularly would know that, purely based on your writing. You don’t need to explain yourself to these douchey pseudonymous trolls who picked up on the story from Fox News.

208. Frank, shut the fuck up and dance. If you can manage to walk a straight line, that is. If you can’t manage that, then just roll around in some glitter, go on all fours, and bark like a dog.

     Good troll!

209. If this person got terminated, it’s likely that this was not the first offense of this sort, just the latest and most publicized.

210. The TSA took the proper action. The matter is closed.

211. .

     knowing the story of PANDORAs BOX as i do, i can see it would be a good lesson for many here to also become familiar with

     that is, at least those who want to learn

     as to those who seem to have it all figured out already, well, that’s okay with me

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

212. frankD: that is, at least those who want to learn

     Learn to use some fucking capital letters, for Christ’s sake!

213. Thanks Jill for calling attention to an obvious abuse that needed to be addressed in some mature way (take note, immature commenters).

     In you case, this was an obnoxious intrusion that caused some humiliation that should never have occured.

     In the case of a female friend of mine, who found a TSA worker’s TELEPHONE NUMBER scrawled on a TSA form left in the middle of her underwear, the intrusion caused some fear. Was this guy (or girl?) looking for a date? What personal information about her had he collected? Was he going to stalk her? Leaving a telephone number threatens further contact of some sort by agovernment who has been allowed very intimate access to one’s personal possessions and life (camera, computer, cellphone, etc.).

     I hope others come forward with their TSA notes, and further action is taken.

214. .

     OT OT

     fat steve,

     don’t bother reading poets e e cummings or charles bukowski

     i could explain it, BUT you wouldn’t get it

     anyway, it was a (*&^%$#@! visiting here

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

     .

215. I’ve been lurking around here for a bit, getting a feel for things, and this is my first post. I’ve read the post, and all the comments, and I just wanted to say, Jill, that while I agree that the note was unprofessional and inappropriate, I do think it was very wrong of you to have the TSA agent killed. Very wrong.

     Just kidding. If it’s any consolation, even though I’m new here, I’ve read enough of your writing to never think of you as the “Get Your Freak On Girl”. Things will die down soon.

     Hey, I have a question for anyone who wants to answer: which of the following two comparisons is more wrong:

     TSA agent:female nazi death camp guards; or
     frankD comments:e.e. cummings poetry?

     ps frank, maybe if you stopped being so long-winded, you wouldn’t be so out-of-breath after each post? Just a thought.

216. God, just reading this thread made me feel dumber. Jill, I had no idea your powers over the TSA were so vast. Can you make them get rid of back-scatter scanners, or do you just control hiring and firing?

217. frankD: don’t bother reading poets e e cummings or charles bukowski

     Don’t try and pretend your stupidity is a stylistic choice.

218. superior olive: I’ve been lurking around here for a bit, getting a feel for things, and this is my first post.

     Hahahaha, welcome!

219. Yes Frank, Pandora’s Box is a true story. The gods all got together and made a woman, and Aphrodite made her hot, and Athena made her smart and good at crafts, and all the other gods gave her things, too. And then she came down and was so hot and irresistable that the men accepted her and she opened her box and brought all sorts of awfulness into the world. Too many feminists don’t realize that this story is COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY TRUE and therefore invalidates our entire movement (because it proves that women are heartless and evil), so thank you for that much-needed reminder.

220. You know, I’ve never liked e.e. cummings, mostly because I thought his refusal to use capital letters was affected and pretentious.

     On Frank, though, I’m pretty sure it’s just incompetence.

221. frankD: don’t bother reading poets e e cummings or charles bukowski

     AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *breathes* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

222. Hey Jill, since you obviously have complete control over every aspect of airports and airport security, I would like to address my list of demands!
     1. Less Starbucks, more indie coffee stands. C’mon Jill, don’t be such a stickler for corporate America.
     2. Cushier carpeting. Jill, just because you are used to running around in heels, doesn’t mean we all are!
     3. As mentioned above, no more body scanner machines! Jill, I find your refusal to have scanners removed a direct violation of my privacy. Who do you think you are, a nazi death camp guard?
     4. Cheaper bagels. C’MON, JILL.

223. I feel for you, I do. Not only are their these kinds of humiliations “expected” now in giving up our privacy for safety – but thefts occur non-stop, as well. In the end, though – when you clear the smoke… you “did” arrive in Ireland safely, due in part to luggage checks for explosive devises. It’s an angry world, now – and I suppose a little peek in our luggage is worth the peace of mind that my child sitting next to me on the plane will be seeing her grandmother – safe and sound. Perhaps we need to leave certain things (and valuables) at home when we take trips, and not give TSA agents opportunities to be idiots or thieves. That’s not fair, I know (and agree), but sadly this is our world now. Hope this dies down for you soon.

224. outrageandsprinkles: 4. Cheaper bagels. C’MON, JILL.

     OMG this.

225. Maybe you can post a bagel receipt on twitter. My understanding is that if you throw a #vibrator and #TSA tag on that shit, it’ll go viral.

226. Jill: For the love of christ, READ THE POST. I said, in the post and about 10 times now in the comments, no I did not want the TSA agent fired. I do not know how much more clear I can be.

     I have read the post. It is not your intentions that are at issue. The issue is your lack of insight.

     If you actually understood the behaviors of men and women outside of this narrow feminist blogosphere you would have known that this message was written by a woman (Perhaps this might have motivated you to at least try to obscure the identity of the individual involved).

     You may “know” that employees that don’t require a college education are more easily replaced than those that do. But have you actually lived this lesson? Anybody who has knows that this is exactly the type of thing that leads to being fired.

     You provided enough detail in your original post for the woman’s employer to be able to identify the person responsible. This is the most indefensible of your “oversights”.

     Rather than whine on that this is not what you intended, accept responsibility and take the opportunity to reflect on why you got this so wrong.

     1. I have read the post. It is not your intentions that are at issue. The issue is your lack of insight.

        If you actually understood the behaviors of men and women outside of this narrow feminist blogosphere you would have known that this message was written by a woman (Perhaps this might have motivated you to at least try to obscure the identity of the individual involved).

        You may “know” that employees that don’t require a college education are more easily replaced than those that do. But have you actually lived this lesson? Anybody who has knows that this is exactly the type of thing that leads to being fired.

        You provided enough detail in your original post for the woman’s employer to be able to identify the person responsible. This is the most indefensible of your “oversights”.

        Rather than whine on that this is not what you intended, accept responsibility and take the opportunity to reflect on why you got this so wrong.

        Oh please. You know what this has given me insight into? How fucking terrible a lot of people can be. No, there was no way to “know” that this message was written by a woman (I still don’t know that it was written by a woman — I’ve seen that suggested, but I haven’t seen it confirmed by TSA anywhere).

        And no, the post isn’t what led to someone being fired. The post cast light on someone’s actions. The fact that those actions broke the rules of their position is not my fault.

        But I am really, really tired of the abuse being heaped on me this week. And you know, you’ve been commenting here for a while, and 90% of the time what you have to say is intentionally obnoxious and not particularly intelligent or interesting. So I am happy to bid you farewell.

227. “Woman forced to pay $7.00 for bagel says apology is not enough.”

228. As a former Government worker, you did the right thing Jill. Government workers are always reminded to act with the utmost privacy and security. The TSA employee did something stupid and whose to say he might do it again to someone else.

229. outrageandsprinkles:
     “Womanforcedtopay$7.00forbagelsaysapologyisnotenough.”

     Pfft. That’s what she gets for slutting it up with all those carbs.

230. Jadey: Jadey 10.28.2011 at 7:01 pm
     frankD: and doesn’t JILL realize the US and Europe have different electrical standards and her toy might not plug in over there ? (pun intended)
     ——————————
     I still can’t find the pun. I have been reading and re-reading this stupid comment, and I still can’t find the pun. Is it like one of those magic eye things? Do I need to squint? (Or, wait, is it the idea that Jill has a 220 volt vadge?)

     In the immortal words of Bobby, though:

     Now, I am just trying to interpret the ramblings of an idiot who has not yet figured out the difference between a clitoral stimulator and a dildo, but I think the pun is implying that she is plugging said item into he intimate area. Can we please stop asking trolls ‘what they mean’, you can just guess it’s a jerky condescending comment no matter how unclearly it’s written? Because I would rather answer your question than the dick who made the comment, but I feel really uncomfortable contributing to what is basically a discussion of Jill’s private parts.

231. Betsy:
     Jill,
     JustreadyourstoryonCNN…andthenfoundyourblog.You’reconsiderablymorethoughtfulthanmostofthepeoplerunningthiscountry…everconsideredrunningforoffice?Ithinkthatconversation(aboutsecurityinthepost-9/11world)needstohappen,andgoodforyoufortryingtomakeithappen.

     I would totally vote for Jill! Unfortunately running for office is limited to those with the big bucks. Grrrrr.

     For those blaming Jill for the TSA agent being fired.. don’t appreciate that the media appropriates certain actions and experiences for its own purposes. It can happen to anyone. There is a lot of anger at the TSA right now, and at the root of it I think goes back to the fact that it’s such an intrusive agency and it’s an uncomfortable reminder of what terrorists have forced us to change in our lifestyle as a nation. That is not the fault of any one person… anywhere. But the result is that anti-TSA stories tend to get a lot of mileage and they will develop a life of their own irrespective of anyone’s intentions.

     PS Since I see there is another Tony, I will be posting from now on as Tony_ … I am the Tony who used to post around here during the spring & summer, if anyone cares.

232. Pingback: Ironie su un vibratore nella valigia . Sospeso addetto all’aeroporto di Newark. « News from T-shirts

233. Oh, man. I’m sorry about this insanity. I am glad that the agent was suspended, though–too many TSA agents get away with this kind of inappropriate behavior every day.

     And I really, really, REALLY don’t care about the gender of the note-leaver. I’m sorry, but it is not any woman’s responsibility to protect the jobs of men and women who have acted thoughtlessly. That you’re expected to do so…well, it’s why this blog exists, isn’t it?

234. Chickenanon: “I feel for you, I do. Not only are their these kinds of humiliations “expected” now in giving up our privacy for safety – but thefts occur non-stop, as well. In the end, though – when you clear the smoke… you “did” arrive in Ireland safely, due in part to luggage checks for explosive devises”

     Perhaps Chickenanon could explain the vital anti-terrorist role that is played by pervy notes on vibrators.

     Llama: “You may “know” that employees that don’t require a college education are more easily replaced than those that do. But have you actually lived this lesson? Anybody who has knows that this is exactly the type of thing that leads to being fired”

     Then why didn’t this TSA employee know that?

235. You provided enough detail in your original post for the woman’s employer to be able to identify the person responsible. This is the most indefensible of your “oversights”.

     Rather than whine on that this is not what you intended, accept responsibility and take the opportunity to reflect on why you got this so wrong.

     The gall of Jill to post about an inappropriate and unprofessional note a federal employee left in her luggage!

     I will send you a shoehorn, llama. Use it to pry your head out of your ass.

236. Bobby: Like other posters have said, she put this info out for her own motive. I have my beliefs as to why but I question her explaination. I couldn’t find any blogs that addressed the civil rights issue with the TSA searches prior to this. All I saw was a lot of man bashing blogs. Frankly, I like the added safety they provide when I fly. There is a way to avoid the TSA infringing upon your rights…..take the bus when you travel. (BTW, why would you condem the “Hot Girls of the Occupy….” video saying men should have guilt over admiring pretty women but yet you cake on the make-up and jewelry? Seems hypocritical to me. Don’t bother answering as I’m confident I’ll never see it.)

     You’re an asshole. Also the TSA is NOT making you safer, not even a little bit. It’s all smoke and mirrors.

237. @ Fat Steve

     No, I will probably continue to mock the trolls, possibly using sarcastic questions. If you don’t want to contribute, don’t respond.

238. Hey, I have a question for anyone who wants to answer: which of the following two comparisons is more wrong:
     TSA agent:female nazi death camp guards; or
     frankD comments:e.e. cummings poetry?
     ps frank, maybe if you stopped being so long-winded, you wouldn’t be so out-of-breath after each post? Just a thought.

     superior olive,

     i am out of breath because i’ve had to repeat, now for the fourth time that the nazi prison guard reference is explained as;
     my comparision is NOT to TSA agents but females to other females who can be as mean or nasty to each other or more, than any men

     and this dispute is a woman on woman thing indeed

     as for the poetry i remember a THS english teacher advising against bukowski but twenty years later the teacher (frank tassone) was serving time for embezzlement as head of the roslyn LI and bukowski had his fifteenth book published postumously

     as for the puff puff i smoke cigars while facemailing

     but that’s for sharing your thoughts, at least you have some – which i cannot say for many here

     anyway be well

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

239. .

     ch,

     well then you obviously know that PANDORAs story was as important for what remained in the box and was not let out: H O P E

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

240. LOL and that’s relevant to the TSA how, exactly?

241. .

     and as a residual note it was not the purpose of the devise – it was the WIRES – i go through federal court security downtown miami and even trustees have to expose any electronic devise with WIREs

     as for the female TSA agents note, well, what’s done is done and that’s that, however, depending on her status and rank (and attorney and i certainly would advise her to get one) may be applicable for re-hiring and re-assignment

     as for JILL, well i wouldn’t want to be her on her next flight, as TSA will get the last word on this, somehow and her permenent record will indicate SSSS (in her fragile state right now i don’t have the heart to explain what that means)

     my montreal return, as i posted above whereas i admittedly did NOT pack my own luggage (a couple of call girls did) so i could NOT identify the “handcuffs” and “sex toys” given out as bachelor party favors in MY luggage, required assistance from a neighbor FBI and DEA customs agent to resolve and the incident remains accessable

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA

242. I have my beliefs as to why but I question her explaination.

     And. AND! The word you are looking for is AND, not but in that sentence. The second half is the same as the first, you’re not saying anything new–if you have your own beliefs, that’s the same as questioning her explanation (note spelling), the connecting word should be AND. God.

     Ahem. Moving on: I’ve noticed that the gender of the TSA agent keeps coming up, and that a lot of people who think that the agent is female think so because of the content of the note, while a lot of people of think the agent is male is citing the look of the note, ie the handwriting. And whatever the gender the poster has picked supports their assertion that it was horrible to post the note in the first place. The thing is: it doesn’t freaking matter what gender the TSA agent was! It was unprofessional and inappropriate regardless of who was leaving the note.

243. Too many feminists don’t realize that this story is COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY TRUE and therefore invalidates our entire movement (because it proves that women are heartless and evil), so thank you for that much-needed reminder.

     ch,

     i would rather leave it with what i tell my two daughters;

     WELL BEHAVED WOMEN RARELY MAKE HISTORY

     i also follow it up with the statement that getting “caught” at any shortcut or ill-judged behavior – DON’T WEASEL – fess-up, come clean and move on

     but that’s enough of my OT posting and observations

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftlauderdale soFLA 33316

244. @frank, note that I said “TSA agent” (no plural) as in this agent, not all agents. But, if I’m reading you correctly, and it is really really hard to tell as your writing is horrible, it was actually Jill who is as to the female Nazi prison guards? Because they were brutally violent women who were violent to other women, and Jill posted a note found in her luggage that was possibly (though not definitely) written by a woman? This is woman vs. woman…violence? Hate?

     0_o

     Ahem: GOOOOOOODWIIIIIIN!!!111!!!!!

     Jill! You won!

245. frankD: Hey, I have a question for anyone who wants to answer: which of the following two comparisons is more wrong:
     TSA agent:female nazi death camp guards; or
     frankD comments:e.e. cummings poetry?

     The comparison between FrankDouchebag and e.e. cummings is less accurate, as the TSA agents and the death camp guards wear uniforms so there is one similarity, but FrankDouchebag has nothing in common with e.e. cummings.

246. Jadey: @ Fat Steve

     No, I will probably continue to mock the trolls, possibly using sarcastic questions. If you don’t want to contribute, don’t respond.

     Feel free to mock and be sarcastic, I was just trying to steer the conversation away from the OP’s nether regions.

247. frankD: Too many feminists don’t realize that this story is COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY TRUE and therefore invalidates our entire movement (because it proves that women are heartless and evil), so thank you for that much-needed reminder.

     What story? What movement are you a part of? The shithead movement?

248. “by putting the above in the public eye in real time what was overlooked was this is a woman to woman thing and ironically it brought about many women who seem to be bashing the masculine side of the TSA

     again history is ignored but if you educate yourself about women nazi prison guards at the death camps you may be surprised at what you learn”

     superior olive;

     PLEASE READ THIS POST in its ENTIRETY please –

     RE: CONTEXT

     PROBLEM
     man-bashing was the tenor and observation in MANY posts here – as in big bad MASCULINE TSA agents

     SOLUTION
     so i said what a minute, not only MEN are capable of such behavior – GO LOOK to nazi female prison guards to see AN EQUAL potential between MEN and WOMEN to do evil

     CONCLUSION
     in it’s proper CONTEXT the equivilent is men and women are EQUALLY potent when given the opportunity to DO EVIL and history shows us one example that was widely publicized and accepted as FACTUAL

     the end

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

249. .

     fat steve,

     thanks for your posts

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

250. frankD: PROBLEM
     man-bashing was the tenor and observation in MANY posts here – as in big bad MASCULINE TSA agents

     SOLUTION
     so i said what a minute, not only MEN are capable of such behavior – GO LOOK to nazi female prison guards to see AN EQUAL potential between MEN and WOMEN to do evil

     CONCLUSION
     in it’s proper CONTEXT the equivilent is men and women are EQUALLY potent when given the opportunity to DO EVIL and history shows us one example that was widely publicized and accepted as FACTUAL

     PROBLEM: You are a blathering idiot and a total dickhead.

     SOLUTION: Shut the fuck up.

     CONCLUSION: Fuck off.

251. .

     and in conclusion i think even JILL would now admit that the initial reaction in real time was that a MAN had handled the devise and also a MAN wrote the note and by extention this incident was an example of a big bad MASCULINE TSA action

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316
     .

252. .

     fat steve,

     thank you, once again, for your posts

     if you’re ever in miami, please look me up and we’ll do lunch at the biltmore

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

     .

253. superior olive;

     PLEASE READ THIS POST in its ENTIRETY please –

     OK, 1. Don’t yell at me, asswipe.
     and
     2. Stop acting like your posts are erudite, pithy, and concise. They’re barely even readable–the words you use are English, but the syntax and grammar are unlike anything I’ve seen.

     by putting the above in the public eye in real time what was overlooked was this is a woman to woman thing and ironically it brought about many women who seem to be bashing the masculine side of the TSA

     See, this is what I’m talking about. Putting it up in real time? What does that mean? Everything that gets posted on the Internet happens in real time! Are you saying that Jill was hasty in posting this, and didn’t consider that it might have been a woman who wrote the note? I’m pretty sure she knows it could have been a woman, as do most others. And don’t give me that post upthread in which she used masculine pronouns–that was pointed out to her already and she realized her mistake and hasn’t repeated it. Yes, many are assuming gender, yet you only see the ones gendering male. Interesting…puff puf-cough cough.

     And finally, stop misusing the word masculine, “the masculine side of the TSA”? This word, masculine, it does not mean what you think it means.

254. Yo! Fat Steve: you have a really annoying habit of pissing on feminist goal posts. Can you chill with that a bit? Especially, again, with the gendered insults. Just b/c you’re a dude who’s pissed off at another dude, doesn’t mean that feminists give a rats ass about your macho political chest beating.

     … and if that’s not what you were going for, perhaps you should reflect on why it is that you are coming across this way.

     Thanks.

255. Q Grrl: Q Grrl 10.30.2011 at 3:37 pm
     Yo! Fat Steve: you have a really annoying habit of pissing on feminist goal posts. Can you chill with that a bit? Especially, again, with the gendered insults. Just b/c you’re a dude who’s pissed off at another dude, doesn’t mean that feminists give a rats ass about your macho political chest beating.

     … and if that’s not what you were going for, perhaps you should reflect on why it is that you are coming across this way.

     Thanks.

     Was it ‘dickhead’ that caused offence? I literally had no idea that was offensive to feminists and I apologize.

     Why do I come across this way? Well, I tend to fight fire with fire and this sometimes gets me in trouble. In fact it’s probably largely responsible for getting me dismissed from my job as a fireman.

256. You’ve been told by several people here that they find the application of “cunt” as an insult to be demeaning to women. You’ve also been told that you’re being demeaning to men and to the sexually inexperienced. You can either take the fucking hint and back the fuck off, or you can keep digging in.

     PS: i guess fat steve just doesn’t know how to play well with others – the above is just ONE of MANY dressing downs fat steve got from various participants elsewhere

     sometimes i just let them prove the point for me

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

257. .

     superior olive,

     the male bashing was obvious to me and others – period

     JILL will have to agree on this point as ALL of her initial public statements indicate the same – go read them

     real time means the matter could NOT have been given much contempative thought or inciteful concern IMHO

     i am still entiled to an opinion aren’t i ?

     why it is so difficult for you to understand those above points ?

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

258. frankD: PS: i guess fat steve just doesn’t know how to play well with others – the above is just ONE of MANY dressing downs fat steve got from various participants elsewhere

     sometimes i just let them prove the point for me

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

     It’s one, not ‘of many’ or you would have repeated others. Only point proven is that not only do feminists dislike you, but those who feminists criticize dislike you.

259. .

     I literally had no idea that was offensive to feminists and I apologize. – fat steve

     Q Grrl,

     if fat steve had to apologize for every indiscresion this site would crash

     he has insulted me a number of times and i’ve only been here a few days

     i find him rude boring and offensive and if that is any indication of who this place attracts – you have my condolences

     of course he will take the position he was incited or else he had to defend the honor or some such nonsense

     add up the foul language of his to mine and you’ll get the idea pretty quick

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

260. Ha! I’m glad your blog is getting attention because of the incident. Good for you!!! Good luck with stuff.

261. .

     It’s one, not ‘of many’ or you would have repeated others – fat steve

     are you challenging ME to go get those posts, mate ?

     my only hesitation is i don’t want to BORE everyone else with you crude offensive and unappreciated language

     BUT i certainly will re-post those who have lectured you elsewhere as Q Grrl has here

     your move mate

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftlquordale soFLA 33316

262. frankD: BUT i certainly will re-post those who have lectured you elsewhere as Q Grrl has here

     Q Grrl did not ‘lecture me’, she made some polite constructive criticism of my language. Others have done the same. Guess what? Some of us can criticize others and still remain civil. And some of us can take constructive criticism with out bringing up irrelevant references to Nazis.

263. real time means the matter could NOT have been given much contempative thought or inciteful concern IMHO

     i am still entiled to an opinion aren’t i ?

     why it is so difficult for you to understand those above points ?

     Words mean things, it’s not a matter of opinion. And that is not what real time means. At all.

     What is a matter of opinion is that Jill and others were “man-bashing”, and it’s an opinion I think is flat out wrong and not based on reality.

264. fat steve,

     you go apologize to zuzu, iany and darque right now or i’ll flood you with your own vile

     then say ten hail-marys and don’t use the computer for ONE WEEK

     govern yourself accordingly

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftliquordale soFLA 33316

265. PROBLEM: You are a blathering idiot and a total dickhead.

     SOLUTION: Shut the fuck up.

     CONCLUSION: Fuck off.

     fat steve,

     this is civil to you ?

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftlquordale soFLA 33316

     1. frankD is making the thread all about him. Tedious to the extreme, and now permamodded.

        P.S. for the love of flying monkeys, at least learn to blockquote properly

266. frankD: you go apologize to zuzu, iany and darque right now or i’ll flood you with your own vile

     a) I’ve apologized to zuzu, on more than one occasion, and I appreciate that she never fails to call out my comments when they are ‘incredibly inconsistent’ (the worst thing she has accused me of.) Furthermore, I don’t believe you speak for her. I also apologized to Iany, because even though I disagreed with him, I felt he was coming from a genuine place.

     b) ‘Darque’ is a pseudonymous MRA troll (probably you,) and as such I have no idea who to apologize to or inclination to apologize as I regret nothing I said to him.

     c) It’s ‘bile’ not ‘vile’, you utter imbecile.

267. .

     You are doing nothing right. You haven’t even been able to string a sentence together. Everyone who has ever met you probably hates you, because you offer nothing to this world. You are an echo chamber for moronic views and completely lacking in insight, and no doubt this stems from your having a tiny penis. – fat steve

     fat steve,

     so that is your “constructive critism” ?

     rather boorish and infantile IMHO

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftlauderdale soFLA 33316

268. Fat Steve @239, the bit you quoted was actually not Frank’s words but him (incompetently!) quoting my sarcastic response to his (still unfathomable) reference to Pandora’s box.

269. ch: Fat Steve @239, the bit you quoted was actually not Frank’s words but him (incompetently!) quoting my sarcastic response to his (still unfathomable) reference to Pandora’s box.

     LOL, your sarcasm sounds like his logic!

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271. Thank you, tigtog. Thank you, thank you, for the love of all that is holy, thank you.

272. Halloween theme plays

     puff

     puff

     frankDZOMBIE

     yourbasement0yourtown0yourzipcode

273. WHOA NEW COMMENT BOX!

274. Nahida: WHOA NEW COMMENT BOX!

     I know!

275. frankD: as for the poetry i remember a THS english teacher advising against bukowski but twenty years later the teacher (frank tassone) was serving time for embezzlement as head of the roslyn LI and bukowski had his fifteenth book published postumously

     That is so relevant, to the topic of this post, to whether or not everyone else has to agree with Bukowski’s publisher as to the quality of his writing, and, most of all, to Frank’s inability to use capital letters. He has totally had fifteen books published, one posthumously, just like Bukowski! So there, haters.

276. 1. Jill, I’m so sorry for the shit storm you’re experiencing. It’s wrong and fucked up.

     2. I’m also so thankful that you’re strong enough to bear it. If this had happened to me, I wouldn’t have told a soul out of fear and shame (“oh no! somewhere, some stranger knows that I’m a human being!”) and probably would never leave the house again (yes, I know how wrong that line of thinking is, but there’s a lot of stuff that I know is wrong in my head but still manage to feel ashamed about). It’s probably small consolation, but thank you and I seriously hope that shit dies down.

     3. Sheelzebub “Stupid–it’s what’s for breakfast on Whiny Street in Trollville.” Omgg died. I want to print out your one-liners and magnet them to the fridge.

277. Pingback: Vaginal Obsession – TSA, you’re doing it wrong « The Legal Satyricon

278. .

     RE on being SSSS

     IMHO apologies are required to many, certainly ALL male TSA agents who were falsely accused of “manhandling” private feminent items and otherwise “abusing” their authority

     i would advise JILL to make a public statement regarding the above

     as i have mentioned the TSA will have the last say on this

     being 4S (secondary security screening selection) is no joke

     i know because as i posted above i was also found with sex toys (a batchelor party party favor accumulated in montreal and placed into MY luggage unbeknownst to me by a couple of ladies i did not know who “volunteered” to pack my suitcase for me)

     and sure enough on my next trip i was designated SSSS

     as for TSA in general it is an underfunded agancy and unprepared to execute the mandate it has been tasked with especially when compared to top-flight security in other countries

     one last 9/11 lawsuit against the airlines security pre-TSA will expose the facts that indicate young inexperienced people were given tasks they were totally incapable and untrained to do – and wouldn’t know an IED from an IUD – and it is no secret that much hasn’t changed since

     my focus is NOT to blame the uneducated and untrained TSA agents working for less than livable wages and no benefits – but to properly funds and educate this most important function

     this should effect anyone who travels as well as anyone serious about security

     puff

     puff

     frankD
     ftlauderdale soFLA

     1. IMHO apologies are required to many, certainly ALL male TSA agents who were falsely accused of “manhandling” private feminent items and otherwise “abusing” their authority

        i would advise JILL to make a public statement regarding the above

        Hahaha I’m sorry, I let this comment through just to highlight how ridiculous this has gotten. Someone left a note in my luggage, and now ‘m obligated to apologize to ALL male TSA agents who may have been falsely accused of manhandling personal items? Even though we have no idea if any TSA agents were falsely accused? And even though I didn’t falsely accuse anyone? I should just apologize because… I should?

        Come on.

279. i know because as i posted above i was also found with sex toys (a batchelor party party favor

     They’re giving out sex toys with the soup now?!? I’m getting myself to Tesco’s STAT!

     To be honest, it’s not even particularly funny if you get the reference.

280. IMHO apologies are required to many, certainly ALL male TSA agents who were falsely accused of “manhandling” private feminent items and otherwise “abusing” their authority

     Uh-huh. Jill never declared that it was a man who did this. Nor did she falsely accuse anyone of anything.

     Other than this, it’s difficult to understand what you’re trying to say, as you seem to be foaming up so much around the mouth that you’re choking on it.

281. frankD: i know because as i posted above i was also found with sex toys (a batchelor party party favor accumulated in montreal and placed into MY luggage unbeknownst to me by a couple of ladies i did not know who “volunteered” to pack my suitcase for me)

     So you lied to the agent when they asked if anyone else had access to or had packed your suitcase? Someone should consider making a complaint that this gross violation didn’t result in you being locked up.

282. Hugwishes to Jill for this crap. And also to the other moderators for all the extra work they must have right now.

     Is the next top troll going to be divided into TSA and non-TSA events this year?

283. I know frank is gone, but since he keeps bringing up his security flight risk status, I would like to clear up one thing: I’m pretty sure frank is on that list not because he travelled with mildly kinky paraphernalia, but because he let other people pack his suitcase. And then didn’t check it himself, and then told the airport screeners he didn’t pack his suitcase. Fucking duh. Frank, you’re on that list because anyone who lets someone else pack their luggage in this day and age is a dumbass who is a security risk. So now every time you travel they’re going to check you suitcase thoroughly. Because you are a dumbass. I really really doubt Jill has anything to worry about.

284. Out of interest, the trolls at large do realise that “manhandle” isn’t any sort of reference to maleness, right?

285. Someone should consider making a complaint that this gross violation didn’t result in you being locked up.

     Really? He deserves to be in prison because of a prank played on him? I know he’s a troll, but let’s keep our sense of perspective here.

286. Its impossible to take any of Jill’s critics seriously. Its impossible to take such panty-sniffing, pearl-clutching, dishonest prudes seriously.

     And please tell me that useless douchebomb llama has finally been banned.

     1. And please tell me that useless douchebomb llama has finally been banned.

        Yes, he has been.

287. If the government puts a system in place that grants tremendous power to a small group of people, they also need to put some sort of regulation in place to ensure that those people are screened carefully, that the general public both can identify those people if necessary, that we have recourse of those people abuse that power.

     Seems like those ideas should be a no-brainer for the average American, but judging from the comments here, it isn’t.

288. Rare Vos: And please tell me that useless douchebomb llama has finally been banned.

     Now, douchebombs: THOSE are dangerous.

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291. A lot of the “you brought it on yourself” replies seem to be seriously unconcerned that it’s as easy to put something in your luggage as it is writing notes on things which are already in your luggage. Dangerous society.

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293. Let me add my assent to the general sentiment that you, Jill, have handled this like an absolute champ, and NOT in the “just seeking hits for her site” sense. I find the regularity of that particular accusation in the relevant threads to be, in its own way, just as worrying as the privacy/security concerns re: the TSA. Are those posters really THAT cynical? And THAT willing to project their own cynicism so readily on others?

     Similarly scary is the number of posters (male and female) who are so squicked out/shockedjustSHOCKED! by the fact that an awful lot of people use sex toys and… actually travel with them sometimes. I offer a humble curse to those of you who think this shameful: May you never enjoy another orgasm, on your own or with others, for the rest of your lives.

294. Pingback: TSA Sex Toy Victim Says Apology Is Not Enough |

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