A thought about taking my son to the airport
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 330
A thought about taking my son to the airport
I took my 32 year old son to IAH so he could head back to SEA after a brief visit. He has just left the Navy and was on job interviews and it was great to see him. He seemed a bit tense as we drove down Will Clayton Parkway and I asked if he was OK.
He responded, "I joined the Navy, spent 4 years at the Naval Academy and 5 years on an Ohio Class Sub as an officer overseeing the engine room and a huge nuclear weapons arsenal with 24 Trident ICBMs and I protected our nation, yet I feel like I am being treated like a common criminal by the TSA just to get on a plane.!"
I tried to reassure him, reminded him to watch the screening area for any lines that were not using body scanners and just concentrate on getting home to his wife and baby and his new job that he just got. I hugged him as I dropped him off and wondered when he got so grown up and how the years went by so quickly! ^
He responded, "I joined the Navy, spent 4 years at the Naval Academy and 5 years on an Ohio Class Sub as an officer overseeing the engine room and a huge nuclear weapons arsenal with 24 Trident ICBMs and I protected our nation, yet I feel like I am being treated like a common criminal by the TSA just to get on a plane.!"
I tried to reassure him, reminded him to watch the screening area for any lines that were not using body scanners and just concentrate on getting home to his wife and baby and his new job that he just got. I hugged him as I dropped him off and wondered when he got so grown up and how the years went by so quickly! ^
#2
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Portland, OR
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He responded, "I joined the Navy, spent 4 years at the Naval Academy and 5 years on an Ohio Class Sub as an officer overseeing the engine room and a huge nuclear weapons arsenal with 24 Trident ICBMs and I protected our nation, yet I feel like I am being treated like a common criminal by the TSA just to get on a plane.!"
Worse, the TSA clerks think their job is more important to the nation's security because their laughable management tell them they are "so special" every day and they get tin badges. Your son KNEW he was important, but they play act it. Sad.
#4
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: DFW
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Sad, isn't it? My husband is also a military officer and made pretty much the same comment last week while we were traveling. The trust the military and government put in him is completely ignored by the TSA (who yes, act as if they play a more important role).
#6
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: California. USA
Posts: 1,404
A lot of TSA workers are young adults. Plent of them young enough to ba my child and/or grandchild.
If me kids would treat and/or talk to people they. They would be in deep trouble with me.
I taught them respect. And that is a word a lot of TSA dont know what it is.
Bet their parents are really proud of them.
If me kids would treat and/or talk to people they. They would be in deep trouble with me.
I taught them respect. And that is a word a lot of TSA dont know what it is.
Bet their parents are really proud of them.
#8
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: DFW
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Posts: 926
When people have had background checks that allowed them to access to nuclear weapons, they tend to get a little annoyed that some GS-nothing has pegged them as a terrorist just because they have the audacity to <gasp> fly somewhere commercially.
#9
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Salish Sea
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#10
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 3,728
It doesn't seem to matter whether the person is fresh out of a five-year stint in the Navy, or is a six-year-old with cerebral palsy and a wheelchair, or is a geriatric grandmother with an incontinence issue, or a business traveler with two laptops.
It may just be that they resent being stuck in a dead-end job doing theatrical make-work to help the sheeple feel safer, it may be that they really just have a deep contempt for people in general. Who knows? What's generally known is that TSA employees don't care who travelers might be - they hate them all.
#11
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: TPA
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Posts: 960
Military background, high security or now, he is correct. The thought behind the TSA is that we are guilty until proven innocent. That is a violation of something I think, I don't have the same knowledge as the Teminally Stupid Authority
#12
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Gulf Coast/Ventura County/Somewhere in between
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Posts: 4,431
Additionally...
- Low level bureaucrats check the ID of military personnel on a daily basis to gain access to military bases, utilize things like the base exchange and buy gas for their car. Does he get tense when someone asks for his ID then? Maybe so, but odds are high that he shows ID to a Rent-A-Cop every morning just to get through a gate. Want that bag of chips at the Exchange? Not until you show your ID to that 90 lb Filipina running the register. Tense now?
- like them or not, using juvenile names like "Tray Stackers Association" or whatever to refer to the TSA doesn't exactly add intellectual weight to a point.
- People with brown ID cards have little business commenting on the serious subject of security clearances, especially if they don't know the background of their target audience. Or any other time, for that matter. Dependents should stick with dependent issues when discussing things military.
- Low level bureaucrats check the ID of military personnel on a daily basis to gain access to military bases, utilize things like the base exchange and buy gas for their car. Does he get tense when someone asks for his ID then? Maybe so, but odds are high that he shows ID to a Rent-A-Cop every morning just to get through a gate. Want that bag of chips at the Exchange? Not until you show your ID to that 90 lb Filipina running the register. Tense now?
- like them or not, using juvenile names like "Tray Stackers Association" or whatever to refer to the TSA doesn't exactly add intellectual weight to a point.
- People with brown ID cards have little business commenting on the serious subject of security clearances, especially if they don't know the background of their target audience. Or any other time, for that matter. Dependents should stick with dependent issues when discussing things military.
Last edited by dd992emo; Jul 28, 2012 at 6:16 am
#13
Join Date: May 2010
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#14
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 3,728
How many of those other exchanges you attempted to use as examples involve unqualified personnel performing intrusive searches?
#15
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Gulf Coast/Ventura County/Somewhere in between
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Posts: 4,431
Edit: Come to think of it...my bag was searched at CAE a few years ago. Came up missing a book after that, so maybe intrusive is a good word there.
Last edited by dd992emo; Jul 28, 2012 at 11:00 am