Rate Your Pat-Down

Uncomfortable pat-downs and body scans have been a newsworthy topic since the holiday travel season began and stricter TSA policies went into effect. Not only newsworthy, pat-downs have been the subjects of numerous jokes and spoofs, such as a recent Saturday Night Live sketch in which the TSA was portrayed as a dating hotline. Now, Saint Louis University graduate student Eric Sucher is taking it a step further, creating a nationwide website, rateyourpatdown.com. On "Rate Your Patdown", visitors choose the airport where the pat-down occurred, describe their experience, and give it a rating. The site then displays ratings by airport, posts the latest pat-down descriptions, which you can give a thumbs up or down, similar to the popular rant site, FML, and crowns a pat-down of the week. The site even has "Rate Your Patdown" merchandise, from shirts to iPad cases to intimate apparel, just in case you want TSA to know you're paying attention. So, if you're traveling this holiday and you get an extra special pat-down, you now have a forum. This week's pat-down of the week says it all: "After my patdown, I was confident I was not concealing any weapons or other dangerous materials. Thank you TSA!"