Pat-down at FRA

But… would I like to be checked by a *woman*?

I am flying, again. This is rarely pretty. I have been assaulted and openly harassed by airport staff before. But this time things seem to go well: Frankfurt, Terminal 1B.

I pass through the body scanner — it alerts on my chest area, as always.

I step outside to find a security man to the right and a security woman on the left looking at me, giving me no indication what to do. I step towards the woman. She retreats, apparently shocked, looks at the man, who shrugs, looks away and disengages from the situation.

The woman steps closer again and gives me an instruction I don’t understand. She starts touching me, too softly to discover anything, and hesitantly. She looks up to me and stammers: “but… would you like to be checked by a woman?”

I don’t see what could possibly be so problematic about that, and think that it’s actually her distress that ought to be managed here, rather than mine. Are *you* actually comfortable, checking me? I want to ask her. I also think that she can probably understand the two metal contraptions on my front better than her male colleague.
“Sure, why not?” is all I manage to say.

She pats me down with soft hands. It is not too unpleasant: I have good chemistry with her, and reframe the whole encounter as a free massage.

Unharmed, I gather my things, and continue.