I flew out of Denver on Thanksgiving - the day AFTER the busiest travel day of the year. The volume at the airport was about the lightest I have seen for DIA. As we approached the security lines, I noticed 4 lanes were open. Three of them had the new Level3 scanners, but the one to the far right (on the North security checkpoint for you DIA flyers) only had the traditional metal detector.
My wife and kids and ran through the normal security drill. We took off belts and shoes, double-checked that pockets were empty and placed our belongings in bins. I pulled out my wife's netbook, but happily left our iPads in the bags (I still don't quite understand distinction between the two for screening). The five of us walked through the metal detector without incident and then began to gather our belongings and put ourselves back together. A minor inconvenience at most. Entirely acceptable.
As we were waiting for the kids, I glanced over to the other lines to see if the Level3 machines were being used. Most passengers seemed to be going through the old metal detectors, with the Level3 machines being used very sparsely for secondary screening. I did not see anyone getting "the pat down".
I'm not sure whether the media over-hyped the security checkpoint issues or the TSA dialed things back significantly. I suspect it was the latter. If they have, indeed, dialed it back, I wonder whether how temporary that is.
In any case, although I was geared up for some minor civil disobedience (having my junk groped in defense if liberty), security screening turned out to be a complete non-event.
Another quick travel note - getting a nice steak and glass of wine out on Thanksgiving is actually quite challenging. Settling for a burger and an inexpensive Australian Cabernet while enjoying the excited chatter of a couple dozen cheerleaders and their parents was just as good!
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