Boggie Dog

My comment clearly points out that any TSA experience can vary from good to not good at all. This happens because TSA allows it to happen. I don't know if it is poor training, poor supervision, or just the way TSA is doing things but it is clear and often reported that individual experiences with TSA is a crap shoot.

rgfloor

Then I think we could invite you to politely "move on sonny!" nothing to see here!!!

Loren Pechtel

Ok, does nothing effective.

SirFlysALot

A few acquaintances who rarely travel mentioned this insulin incident to me. The word is getting around that the TSA is out of control.

TheRoadie

I've read plenty of positive encounter stories. I've had a few myself.

What irritates to the bone is when the poster with a positive experience says that their positive experience in any way counteracts or makes up for the negative. As if the mere existence of a positive experience denies the possibility of the negative. Or all negatives.

Those sorts of rose-colored-glasses posters get no credibility at all. They have the logic backwards.

Just like when TSA staff say that "SOP does not support that specific process", implying that 100% of screeners follow the secret process 100% of the time and reports of rogue screeners are all actually reports from rogue lying travelers.

RichardKenner

Why is it that every thread, once we get past the first few pages, aways reads exactly the same as all the other threads?

chollie

Human nature.

We talk about the best and the worst.

The 'best' doesn't require any 'follow-up' (other than submitting a positive feedback form - if you can get one - took me almost 25 minutes).

The 'worst' events are not only notable in themselves, they also beg for follow-up action. That frequently generates discussion.

On sites frequented solely or largely by TSOs, I wonder how many posts are 'I had a great experience with a pax today' and how many are along the lines of "Let me tell you about the 'fare' that came through my checkpoint today, what a jerk".

If I posted a similar question to SATTSO's on the BLOG, I wonder what kind of response I would get. Would 'BoB' rush to assure me that the pax who post there are 'respected'?

nachtnebel

I don't agree entirely. In the opt out of nudeoscope thread, relatively non intrusive gropes, or ones that are less a grope than expected are reported there and nobody says squat about the posters. They are simply providing needed data points, which provide some hope in a possibility of not being molested EVERYWHERE, and I certainly appreciate the info they provide. Of course, then you have TSA trainers coming on to post that they are not doing their jobs properly if it isn't invasive, which is a downer.

The posters that get bashed are the ones that post a positive experience and then proceed to extrapolate that because they had good experiences, EVERYONE else's must have been just like theirs. Which is resented greatly by those who have had their junk abused.

InkUnderNails

Because the problems with the TSA tend to be systemic not anecdotal.

nachtnebel

just speculating, perhaps because the comments are based on what is happening at checkpoints and there is a continuing sameness of [bad] experiences.

jkhuggins

Precisely.

This also explains why some TSO reports here are treated harshly. At times, those reports can be summarized as "well, this is the way we do it here at XYZ, so obviously the poster talking about those procedures at PDQ must be lying".

chollie

Perhaps because we're basically so helpless in the face of it all.

Bit like a support group, isn't it? You have a group of people struggling to come to grips with what is happening, stunned into disbelief. The situation just keeps getting worse and worse. It's natural to compare notes with others, even if there's not a shred of hope of improvement.

SFOSpiff

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I can't prove you right or wrong in either direction. And frankly, you can't either, which is the crux of the problem. Discussions over the internet never have a guaranteed level of credibility.

Which brings me to the point, which is you can't prove anything either. You (and Bart, and TSORon) like to tell us how wrong we are, but the fact is, you can't prove anything you're saying. You tell us we don't know the real truth, what goes on behind the scenes, because it's secret. Well, what I am I supposed to deduce from that? Seriously, put yourself in my shoes. Someone tells me trust me, it's all for your own good, there's things you don't know. Then that group acts in a dishonest way - theft, abuse, and so forth. How am I suppose to trust you? How do I know that SSI doesn't literally read "Have fun! There are no rules and no consequences!" You won't let me see SSI, so how am I supposed to believe what's in it?

The U.S. government has lied before, where security is concerned. Don't bother disputing this point. It's proven, it's documented, and it's not paranoia or tin foil hat territory. How am I supposed to see this differently? I'm not claiming you guys definitely are lying. I'm not even claiming you are probably lying. But you could be, and TSA's behavior is consistent with that point. And that's not how a free society is supposed to operate.

Again, I don't know your background (I'm not referring to your previous employers or occupations) but I don't quite get why you can't see it from our perspective. People here are called paranoid and believe TSA is out to get them. That's no different than TSA itself. You're deathly afraid of another attack, whether the risk is real or not, and you're afraid you'll get fileted by the public if you fail to prevent one. I'd call that paranoid as well.

Let me ask you a hypothetical. Let's say, as a result of our current fiscal crisis, the IRS decided that revenue protection was the ultimate priority of the government. So, it starts sending out letters to people demanding exorbitant amounts of money that bear no relation to what you actually owe, and are possibly in violation of the law. People who complain might have their bank accounts seized. Those who refuse to pay are "held for questioning". All IRS regs are labeled secret, so no one can evade them or abuse loopholes.

You'd be pretty darn upset about that, wouldn't you?

chollie

+1


+1 Excellent analogy.

knotyeagle

Now on the front page of www.foxnews.com. The commentaries are even better. Here all this time I thought it was only me and when on www.flyertalk.com complains about the TSA. I guess I was wrong.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/07...d-her-insulin/