Just to be clear, you obviously had something else on you or your husband that had metal in it. I wear a large silver cuff bracelet and big silver necklace every week and travel over 100k per year and have never set off alarms. A zipper fly or small hair clip will not set off a metal detector. You were wearing something else that set it off
OR you were randomly selected, which is part of TSA protocol. Your post stinks of the same drama as the woman who claimed that her son's small pacifer clip set off the guns/alarms/dogs at ATL. If you look at the official TSA video she had on a big ole belt buckle and was full of drama and misinformation.
For all those on the DIS please realize that a zip fly is NOT going to set off the metal detector to the point of sending you to the pokey.
http://www.mybottlesup.com/2009/10/tsa-agents-took-my-son/
http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/10/response-to-tsa-agents-took-my-son.html
For those that are paranoid and freaked out and will be traveling with multiple adults send one adult thru security with 10 people between Adult 1 and Adult 2 who is with the kids. This ensures that Adult 1 is full and clear of all security issues and is free and clear to "catch" any kids who may be left alone for a micro-second while adult 2 may be caught up in any security measures.
My post was NOT full of drama. In fact, I was as calm writing about it as I was at the time. If you are reading drama into it, I suggest you print it out, wait until you are very relaxed, and read it again. There was absolutely no drama at the time it happened, and no drama at the time I wrote it.
I was quiet and calm saying "my son is right here, my husband is over there (at LAX, at least in December '08, ere are low walls and I could see everything the agent and DH were doing) , we can't forget him", and then the lady behind me said "you have a barrette".
I took out the barrette, put it in a bin, it went through, I went through, I did not ping that time.
I do not wear belts. I own no chunky jewelry as it is not aesthetically pleasing to me.
My husband takes off his belt and puts it through the machine. I was watching them "wand" him, and it was his zipper that was causing the ruckus with the wand, and that's IT.
Obviously you haven't read my posts before about LAX; I quite like LAX! I like their people (except for this ONE lady, but she wasn't there that time), and even that time they were awesome to deal with. Just a bit forgetful. I didn't say they were rude or mean or evil; but they were forgetting that my son was standing there.
I've been through there before and after that experience, and thankfully their systems have never been set so sensitive as that time.
Once hubby was done with the zipper examination (just being silly, there was no exam, just a thorough wanding and once it was shown to just be the zipper he was on his way) and once the helpful lady behind me helped me out , we had to get ourselves together.
The TSA people that had been passively watching over things helped us out; got the carseat over to us, talked with DS as we got our shoes on (DS just wore
crocs during that period of his traveling life so he was easy). One of the guys could tell we'd been at
Disneyland, and said his wife wanted to go for their first visit on xmas day...I strongly and cheerfully urged him to talk her out of that visit, to get some less crowded visits under their belts before braving the 25th LOL. All while tying my laces and getting my hair back under control (aka out of my face) with the barrette (which I still have and could post a picture for you).
Then we all called goodbye to each other as we went running towards our gate, as we had been late from the moment we left California Adventure! Hubby had a few problems with his shorts almost falling down as we ran, as he hadn't had a chance to get his belt back on. Embarrassing! And when we screeched to a sweaty halt at our gate, we found it hadn't even boarded yet, 5 minutes before scheduled departure. Whew! Who knew it would be so good to have a late-leaving flight????
But I assure you, it was the barrette and the zipper that set them off that day. And I don't post this to be dramatic at all. My family might take up a lot of bins (we do put more than one pair of shoes in one, etc, we don't have one bin for every single item) and room on the conveyor belt, but we let others go past us because we refuse to rush and get ourselves into a tizzy.
Even while we were running to the gate we were laughing at the situation.
Hubby has traveled internationally since he was a child, and alone since he was a teenager, I went away to college at 17 and took my first solo flight home when I was brand-newly 18...we're definitely seasoned.
We traveled on Sept 18, 2001, out to DC, and ever since, so we're not new to TSA or increased security at all.
Hubby currently travels internationally for work, carrying usually 8 e-readers at once (he's a product tester), and he also carries injectable drugs (a drug that is illegal without a prescription in many countries) so he's used to having his stuff looked at thoroughly. (eta, ha ha, that sounded naughty...he's used to having his carryon items looked at thoroughly)
That one time at LAX happened to be a time when we were rushing, but although we were rushing as we checked in bags and after we got through security, we took our time (and tried to stop sweating from all the rushing LOL) so nothing got frantic. We hate frantic.
I remember reading about that lady, so silly. But I can assure you, that was not what our situation was like at all.
And yet...those are the two things that set off the detectors on that day, and they were about to forget about my son.
ETA again, by the way, I like your use of "big ol'". I use that phrase myself as well. Yay for "big ol'" things!
Which then reminds me, in the interest of full disclosure, hubby shops at big&tall shops, so his shorts are a bit bigger than a skinny guy's shorts, and the zipper is definitely bigger than a zipper on a skinny guy's shorts. It definitely could have had an effect (affect? why did I have such rotten English teachers growing up? I just can't learn that one)...but my barrette is just a normal Goody barrette...
Oh, and I also have stories about useless security, not extra-tough security like at LAX that time.

That trip on 9/18/01 was, um, interesting, in what they considered a weapon (metal toed shoes) and what they did not (2 inch, double-sided, half missing their rubber tips, sharp metal bun-holders, of which I had at least 10 in my hair, to hold my waist-length hair up in a bun). And how a bullet-shaped part of a keychain roamed around in my carryon bag for two flights without anyone noticing (including me until I unpacked when we got home, it was a keychain from hubby's work that unscrewed itself somehow). and more.
