AFTER passing through security at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport recently, Nathan Rau noticed something odd -- stuffed animal puppets, actually -- affixed to two electronic wands used for body scans on passengers chosen for more intensive secondary screening.

''They told me they use the covered wands to screen young children,'' he said. ''They said it makes the child feel a little more relaxed during the process.''

Screeners at Minneapolis are using their heads, Mr. Rau decided.

Mr. Rau, a 31-year-old Minneapolis lawyer, has a fairly straightforward approach to evaluating airport security procedures. ''I'll give praise where it's due, but not where it's not,'' Mr. Rau said.

Praise is due to the screeners in Minnesota, he said. But not for the screeners at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, who recently confiscated his car key as a prohibited item.

''I'm leaving Dallas on a Sunday and at security it's the usual stuff -- shoes off, laptop out. My carry-on bag goes through the X-ray machine and I hear the infamous 'bag check!''' Mr. Rau recalled.

Here we go, he thought. ''A screener says, 'Sir, is this your bag?' And I say, 'Yeah, and I need a private room if you're going to go through it,' '' he recalled telling the screener.

Mr. Rau explained: ''As an attorney, I carry documents, and because of the nature of what I do -- I do intellectual property law -- opening them up in a public place could have repercussions for myself or for my clients.''