USA Today on TSA's new badges
Jun 17, 2008, 3:30 pm
#63
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Something is definitely different. I can't quite place my finger on it. Wait, is that it? Really? It is... It must be! Yes! It is! Ha Ha! Eureka! IT'S THE BADGES!!! HOOORAAAAYYYY!!! The badges have cancelled out everything that was wrong with TSA! They have allowed me to see the light! Edmund S. tapdancing Hawley, I have seen the LIGHT!
Jun 18, 2008, 2:55 pm
#64
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It seems important to you that he should know about it. Since you're so irritated about what a reporter doesn't know but should, wouldn't a simple phone call to him clear up both his ignorance and your irritation?
Jun 18, 2008, 3:19 pm
#65
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I'm not 'irritated' at him about that-I have no idea where you got that idea nor why you have been so 'irritated' that I have an opinion about this & are making such an issue over my having stated an opinion about something or someone. That's your hang-up, not mine. Please, if my opinions irritate you so much, just ignore them in the future-won't irritate me in the least.
Jun 18, 2008, 3:37 pm
#66
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I'm not 'irritated' at him about that-I have no idea where you got that idea nor why you have been so 'irritated' that I have an opinion about this & are making such an issue over my having stated an opinion about something or someone. That's your hang-up, not mine. Please, if my opinions irritate you so much, just ignore them in the future-won't irritate me in the least.
Jun 19, 2008, 8:57 am
#67
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Your assumptions about what interest me are mistaken. I'm not interested in your opinions. I am, however, very interested in upshot of conversations any FTers have with highly visible reporters, such USA Today's Frank Thomas. Given your comments in another thread, you seemed motivated to follow through. I was wondering whether you had acted on that impulse. Make sense?
If this reporter is as 'highly visible' as you feel he is, then is it safe to presume he at least knows about Flyer Talk? If he does & has spent any time here, then he knows about TSA's blog as it's been mentioned here countless times. There have also been numerous discussions here re: the new screener badges as well as the MMW machines, subjects of his 2 most recent USA Today articles, at least in print. If he's not doing his research on these subjects then I'm back to regarding him as nothing more than an unofficial TSA cheerleader (my opinion).
Jun 19, 2008, 10:04 am
#70
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Jun 19, 2008, 11:11 am
#71
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I had to go back and read the above article, because your statement that the TSO's had to surrender their badges when off duty was a new one to me. Maybe I missed it, but I read it that the TSO's were "barred from wearing them" when not working. Slight difference. (Not that if matters much, it still means that they are not to be abused). Anyway, I ride the train to and from the airport sometimes. Full uniform, but usually covered up with a sweatshirt. I consider myself just a regular citizen, and as a citizen I have gotten involved in certain situations on the train. On one instance, I was riding in a car with two young (12-13 yrs) girls. There was a much older punk (20-ish) making rude/gross/uncomfortable/obscene comments to them. Even tho I was in uniform (covered up) I sure wasn't gonna watch those girls start to cry. Was I a rogue screener? Or just an adult (yuck! I hate that word to describe myself) stepping in to help out the girls? I didn't have to use any force, I am not a big person by any means, but if the kid turned out to be crazy...I would have defended myself.
Good on you for stepping in. ^
Jun 19, 2008, 11:18 am
#72
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Jun 19, 2008, 5:15 pm
#74
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Of course not.
So, I'll be direct -- even more so than I was in your other USA Today thread. Reporters don't necessarily know the backstory on every assignment they're given, unless they've been on a particular beat or section for a good while. This is especially true for general assignment reporters. (And interns -- 'tis the season.) Having been in the business for 16 years myself, I learned something new almost every single day on the job regardless how long I was in a particular position. Sometimes real gems come from calls and letters and emails by readers. Believe it not, it's usually appreciated.
Of course, you may be dead on that Frank Thomas is a TSA cheerleader. Whether that's a fact or an assumption is another story.
So, I'll be direct -- even more so than I was in your other USA Today thread. Reporters don't necessarily know the backstory on every assignment they're given, unless they've been on a particular beat or section for a good while. This is especially true for general assignment reporters. (And interns -- 'tis the season.) Having been in the business for 16 years myself, I learned something new almost every single day on the job regardless how long I was in a particular position. Sometimes real gems come from calls and letters and emails by readers. Believe it not, it's usually appreciated.
Of course, you may be dead on that Frank Thomas is a TSA cheerleader. Whether that's a fact or an assumption is another story.
Last edited by essxjay; Jun 19, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Jun 19, 2008, 5:18 pm
#75
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Reporters don't necessarily know the backstory on every assignment they're given, unless they've been on a particular beat or section for a long time. This is especially true for general assignment reporters. (And interns -- 'tis the season.) Having been in the business for 16 years myself, I can tell you that I learned something new almost every single day on the job. Sometimes the new tidbits come from calls and letters and emails by readers. Believe it not, it's usually appreciated.