In praise of SFO TSA baggage check
Mar 12, 2004, 6:56 pm
#1
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In praise of SFO TSA baggage check
There are a lot of legitimate complaints, but I would like to post a cheers when a job is well done.
My big bag was weighed in at exactly 50 pounds, containing various clothes, books, shoes, bottles of wines and foodies from Trader Joe's.
When I got back home to Dallas, there was a printed TSA note inside. Of course, I was a little suspicious at first, but everything was in good shape. All the items were packed in the same way I had them. All the wine bottles were intact. They even fastened the inside straps, which I am usually too lazy to do.
Since my bag is a hardside, I've been leaving the combination locks at the unlocked postion. However, I noticed the locks were locked when I retrieved the bag. Perhaps they deliberately did this after inspecting the bag? I don't know. What I do know is that this bag was inspected and all items remained well packed. Good job!
My big bag was weighed in at exactly 50 pounds, containing various clothes, books, shoes, bottles of wines and foodies from Trader Joe's.
When I got back home to Dallas, there was a printed TSA note inside. Of course, I was a little suspicious at first, but everything was in good shape. All the items were packed in the same way I had them. All the wine bottles were intact. They even fastened the inside straps, which I am usually too lazy to do.
Since my bag is a hardside, I've been leaving the combination locks at the unlocked postion. However, I noticed the locks were locked when I retrieved the bag. Perhaps they deliberately did this after inspecting the bag? I don't know. What I do know is that this bag was inspected and all items remained well packed. Good job!
Mar 16, 2004, 4:40 pm
#2
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Remember, you can get TSA- combination approved locks that the TSA has a key to. Best of both worlds, IMO.
And yes, there are decent TSA stories in several places - SFO has been right up there in my estimation as well - and a few ugly ones (my MIA experiences are not pretty.)
And yes, there are decent TSA stories in several places - SFO has been right up there in my estimation as well - and a few ugly ones (my MIA experiences are not pretty.)
Mar 16, 2004, 5:24 pm
#3
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Please remember that SFO is one of five airports that do not have regular TSA screeners. SFO has private screeners who operate under TSA supervision and rules.
Bruce
Bruce
Mar 16, 2004, 5:39 pm
#4
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bdschobel:
Please remember that SFO is one of five airports that do not have regular TSA screeners. SFO has private screeners who operate under TSA supervision and rules.
Bruce</font>
Please remember that SFO is one of five airports that do not have regular TSA screeners. SFO has private screeners who operate under TSA supervision and rules.
Bruce</font>
Mar 16, 2004, 7:04 pm
#6
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Great, but we're losing track of the basic issue that the US government is searching our possessions OUTSIDE OF OUR CONTROL!
Geez! How quickly we forget! All we can talk about is which cable ties and locks to buy! We're such sheep!
Geez! How quickly we forget! All we can talk about is which cable ties and locks to buy! We're such sheep!
Mar 16, 2004, 8:17 pm
#7
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 264
ChaseTheMiles,
Thanks for the good words!
Most people just don't understand and comprehend that private or Federal, there is good and bad in both... They just want to bash TSA who for the most part are good people trying to make a living to support their family...
Thanks again!
Thanks for the good words!
Most people just don't understand and comprehend that private or Federal, there is good and bad in both... They just want to bash TSA who for the most part are good people trying to make a living to support their family...
Thanks again!
Mar 16, 2004, 8:56 pm
#8
Join Date: Mar 2004
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FliesWayTooMuch,
How? How can we avoid being sheep? Each time I pass a checkpoint I feel ashamed to be an American; I feel angry and violated beyond belief; I want to vomit on the T-SS-A agents who have somehow been deputized to touch all of my belongings and all of my body. We are treated like criminals when we fly, but how can we avoid being sheep? [True, we could take a bus from San Francisco to Boston, but I doubt our jobs would be waiting for us two or three weeks later when we arrived.]
I send my public comment to the appropriate Congressional and governmental forums when that opportunity is available, once every six months or so. The TSA hasn't even responded to or made available online, as it promised, the public comment it received on its CAPPS-II Privacy Act notice months and months ago. That Privacy Act notice got the largest response in history by a large margin, and nearly all of the public sentiment was negative. We have been given no opportunity at all to comment on the shoe police, the inappropriate touching, or the brutalization of our right to travel freely within the country. The regulations permitting this atrocity are secret. FOIA requests have been ignored or answered with almost completely redacted documents. The only hope we have is to keep up the public pressure and the legal pressure until the TSA is beaten.
Here's where to join the fight:
http://www.eff.org/
http://www.dontspyonus.com/
http://www.hasbrouck.org/blog/
Write letters to your Congressional delegations. Enter the public record at every opportunity and make your opposition known. You're right, FliesWayTooMuch. We shouldn't be sheep any longer.
How? How can we avoid being sheep? Each time I pass a checkpoint I feel ashamed to be an American; I feel angry and violated beyond belief; I want to vomit on the T-SS-A agents who have somehow been deputized to touch all of my belongings and all of my body. We are treated like criminals when we fly, but how can we avoid being sheep? [True, we could take a bus from San Francisco to Boston, but I doubt our jobs would be waiting for us two or three weeks later when we arrived.]
I send my public comment to the appropriate Congressional and governmental forums when that opportunity is available, once every six months or so. The TSA hasn't even responded to or made available online, as it promised, the public comment it received on its CAPPS-II Privacy Act notice months and months ago. That Privacy Act notice got the largest response in history by a large margin, and nearly all of the public sentiment was negative. We have been given no opportunity at all to comment on the shoe police, the inappropriate touching, or the brutalization of our right to travel freely within the country. The regulations permitting this atrocity are secret. FOIA requests have been ignored or answered with almost completely redacted documents. The only hope we have is to keep up the public pressure and the legal pressure until the TSA is beaten.
Here's where to join the fight:
http://www.eff.org/
http://www.dontspyonus.com/
http://www.hasbrouck.org/blog/
Write letters to your Congressional delegations. Enter the public record at every opportunity and make your opposition known. You're right, FliesWayTooMuch. We shouldn't be sheep any longer.
Mar 17, 2004, 6:01 am
#9
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You expressed my views very well. Thank you!
I've contacted my Congress-people several times about specific issues, such as CAPPS II and the new TSA-imposed fines. I have never gotten any reply. The United States is clearly becoming a totalitarian regime.
Bruce
I've contacted my Congress-people several times about specific issues, such as CAPPS II and the new TSA-imposed fines. I have never gotten any reply. The United States is clearly becoming a totalitarian regime.
Bruce
Mar 17, 2004, 3:28 pm
#11
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SFO also has a slew of surly and stroppy moat dragons (maze minders) who will impose thier will on you without reason. Apparently these low-bid minimum-wage flunkies (wasn't that how we got September 11th?) have the right to send you to secondary as punishment if you do not do exactly as they say.
This is especially true at SFO Terminal 1.
Shame, that BART makes it an easy place to get to, but between the rent-a-cops and the contracted out "Team SFO" TSA, I'll be using SJC and/or OAK thanks!
[This message has been edited by HeHateY (edited Mar 17, 2004).]
This is especially true at SFO Terminal 1.
Shame, that BART makes it an easy place to get to, but between the rent-a-cops and the contracted out "Team SFO" TSA, I'll be using SJC and/or OAK thanks!
[This message has been edited by HeHateY (edited Mar 17, 2004).]
Mar 17, 2004, 7:21 pm
#12
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">(wasn't that how we got September 11th?)</font>
Mar 18, 2004, 2:14 pm
#13
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GradGirl:
... Each time I pass a checkpoint I feel ashamed to be an American; I feel angry and violated beyond belief; I want to vomit on the T-SS-A agents who have somehow been deputized to touch all of my belongings and all of my body. We are treated like criminals when we fly, but how can we avoid being sheep? ...</font>
... Each time I pass a checkpoint I feel ashamed to be an American; I feel angry and violated beyond belief; I want to vomit on the T-SS-A agents who have somehow been deputized to touch all of my belongings and all of my body. We are treated like criminals when we fly, but how can we avoid being sheep? ...</font>
Aside from not locking the bags due to potential theft, I travel with easy-off shoes which are more comfortable for the flights anyway. I also think we need to have tighter security around train stations even if it's difficult to implement.