Nipple Rings Raise Alarm @ Lubbock Airport in Texas

Imagine for a second that you have nipple rings. (Ouch!) After you pierce your nipples, the skin can heal around the piercing making subsequent removal of the rings very painful. Also, after you remove the rings, the holes in the skin can close up immediately, making reinsertion difficult.

Now imagine that you have a nipple piercing and that you are going to visit your great-uncle, and instead of driving you decided to fly. On your return trip from Lubbock, you walk successfully through the metal detector at the airport, but are pulled aside for additional screening. The hand wand beeps when the TSA Officer waves it over your breasts.

No problem. You calmly tell the officer that you have nipple piercings. That officer must be confused because the officer calls over another TSA agent, who tells you that you need to remove the nipple piercings. You probably cringe, because you know how painful removal is going to be.

You look around and see that you have now drawn a crowd. More officers come over, until the group includes four male and 2 female officers. In addition, there is a small group of interested parties peering over at you. You start to cry. Through your tears, you ask if you can show the piercings instead of removing them. You are told that you have to remove them or else you will not get on a plane. Although you are legally entitled to get a pat down instead of being forced to remove the nipple rings, no one tells you that, and so you begin the painful process.

In a private area, behind a curtain, you start to remove the piercings. One is easy, the other won't budge. You ask an officer for help and you are handed a large pair of pliers. As you cry, and struggle to remove the second piercing, you hear the male TSA officers snickering outside of the curtain. You probably want to brain them with the pliers, but you are focused on getting on that flight.

You finally are piercing free and re-enter the scan. You realize you forgot to remove your navel ring. You offer to remove it, but are told it is OK, since the officer can see it. You wonder why a similar inspection of the nipple rings couldn't have worked.

You get through the ordeal. You think about the pain, and humiliation that you would not wish on anyone else and then you call Gloria Allred, renown celebrity attorney.

Mandi Hamlin, 37, went through this experience on February 24, 2008. She is now demanding an apology from the TSA, and if one is not forthcoming she will plan to pursue legal options. Gloria Allred, Mandi's attorney, told reporters at a news conference that, "the conduct of TSA was cruel and unnecessary. Last time that I checked, a nipple was not a dangerous weapon. People who are pierced should not be snickered at, should not become the object of ridicule, should not be singled out for special and uneven and unequal treatment. They should be respected just like everybody else." Mandi told the reporters that "I wouldn't wish this experience upon anyone. I felt surprised, embarrassed, humiliated and scared. No one deserves to go through this."

The TSA released a statement admitting that "our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets (the) situation in which she found herself. We appreciate her raising awareness on this issue and we are changing the procedures to ensure that this does not happen again." The TSA also added that it was "well aware of terrorists' interest in hiding dangerous items in sensitive areas of the body. Therefore, we have a duty to the American public to resolve any alarm that we discover."

Apparently the TSA's Public Affairs office reached out to Mandi on Friday and she is open to giving them an opportunity to "do the right thing now."

As for flying again, Mandi says she will fly, but never from the Lubbock airport in Texas.

Source: CNN