<p>“The agents all wished me Happy Holidays. They must have gotten some directive to be friendlier,” said Benjamin Billips, 30, of Bartlett, Illinois, who travelled from New York to Chicago. <br /><br />“All of the TSA employees were nice,” said Hannah Kimmel, a student travelling to Minnesota from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, said of the Transportation Security Administration staff. <br /><br />Many passengers arrived at airports expecting an ordeal after media and internet horror stories of aggressive patdowns, surly security officials and argumentative passengers. <br />Media attention to the patdowns surged after a widely viewed YouTube video captured audio of a California man, John Tyner, telling a security official during a full body search: “If you touch my junk I’m going to have you arrested.” <br /><br />Critics of the body scans used “Don’t touch my junk” as a rallying cry to encourage travellers to refuse the scans during the heaviest travel time of the year for Americans. <br />Some travellers were aware of the protest campaign but few heeded it, according to interviews with passengers at airports across the country. <br /><br />One who did seem to object was Nick Mazzanti, a New York resident who works at a public relations firm and was at LaGuardia airport. “I’m going to ask for a (machine) scan,” he said. “I don’t want them touching my junk.” <br /><br />On best behaviour<br /><br />At Chicago’s O’Hare, the world’s third busiest airport, there was no sign of protests or of the dreaded patdowns. Both passengers and TSA seemed on their best behaviour. <br /><br />“I am glad I didn’t see more people opting out on my way here,” said Walter Fitzwater, 55, a computer technician from Minneapolis travelling to New York with his wife and child. “It would only take a few to really back up the lines at security.” <br /><br />“There wasn’t even a line. It took about 5 minutes in total to get through security,” said Emile Trisfith, 19, a music student in Chicago headed home to New York. “I was prepared for the worst.” <br /><br />Many travellers supported the heightened security after recent attempts to send parcel bombs through an air freight service to the United States. <br /><br />Jonathan Millard, 42, a Chicago resident and frequent flier, said that he supports increased security because it keeps Americans safe. <br /><br />“I think that most of us forget that there is a terrorist threat. There are probably going to be more terrorist attacks and I think we have to be vigilant.”<br /><br /></p>
<p>“The agents all wished me Happy Holidays. They must have gotten some directive to be friendlier,” said Benjamin Billips, 30, of Bartlett, Illinois, who travelled from New York to Chicago. <br /><br />“All of the TSA employees were nice,” said Hannah Kimmel, a student travelling to Minnesota from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, said of the Transportation Security Administration staff. <br /><br />Many passengers arrived at airports expecting an ordeal after media and internet horror stories of aggressive patdowns, surly security officials and argumentative passengers. <br />Media attention to the patdowns surged after a widely viewed YouTube video captured audio of a California man, John Tyner, telling a security official during a full body search: “If you touch my junk I’m going to have you arrested.” <br /><br />Critics of the body scans used “Don’t touch my junk” as a rallying cry to encourage travellers to refuse the scans during the heaviest travel time of the year for Americans. <br />Some travellers were aware of the protest campaign but few heeded it, according to interviews with passengers at airports across the country. <br /><br />One who did seem to object was Nick Mazzanti, a New York resident who works at a public relations firm and was at LaGuardia airport. “I’m going to ask for a (machine) scan,” he said. “I don’t want them touching my junk.” <br /><br />On best behaviour<br /><br />At Chicago’s O’Hare, the world’s third busiest airport, there was no sign of protests or of the dreaded patdowns. Both passengers and TSA seemed on their best behaviour. <br /><br />“I am glad I didn’t see more people opting out on my way here,” said Walter Fitzwater, 55, a computer technician from Minneapolis travelling to New York with his wife and child. “It would only take a few to really back up the lines at security.” <br /><br />“There wasn’t even a line. It took about 5 minutes in total to get through security,” said Emile Trisfith, 19, a music student in Chicago headed home to New York. “I was prepared for the worst.” <br /><br />Many travellers supported the heightened security after recent attempts to send parcel bombs through an air freight service to the United States. <br /><br />Jonathan Millard, 42, a Chicago resident and frequent flier, said that he supports increased security because it keeps Americans safe. <br /><br />“I think that most of us forget that there is a terrorist threat. There are probably going to be more terrorist attacks and I think we have to be vigilant.”<br /><br /></p>
