Airport Bullies

By Dawn Lim

New York Times readers aren't too thrilled with TSA's screening personnel. Passengers wish "some screeners at the body scan machines were nicer and did not order travelers around as if they were jailhouse perps," writes Joe Sharkey.

One reader told Sharkey she "felt as if she were in a cage" as a screener admonished her for not paying closer attention to other travelers. Another said "comments and smirks" as a screener talked by headset to an unseen person at the image monitor led her to believe the two were "appraising each of the women going through."

Other travelers actually embraced the scanning machines because it meant not having to be patted down and having less face time with the screening staff -- food for thought, for those who find full body scanners disconcerting.