TSA Has Three Main Ways To Punish Passengers Who Opt-Out of Scanners

They make it as unpleasant as possible

If you don't want to walk through a poorly tested full-body scanner or have a TSA agent belittle your anatomy before your next flight, then you still have the right to opt out and submit to an "enhanced" pat-down.

That's exactly what I did on a recent trip from Orlando to Atlanta. Actually, I do it every time I fly.

But as I waited for a male agent -- who would ask me to spread my legs, would touch my torso, rub the inside of my legs and feel the back of my neck and arms -- I began to understand what the TSA really means when it says it's focusing its efforts on "intelligence-driven, risk-based screening procedures."

It means that when we're screened at the airport, we're separate, but we're not equal.