SPOTNIK, allow me to add my welcome to Flyertalk! I see your being here as a good thing, becasue the overall incompetence and absurdity of the TSA has been grinding our gears for years here. The fact that someone who is obviously far more intelligent and well written than the average gum-cracking TSO suggests progress has been made.

As CHOLULA said, please try to understand why some members will be less than cordial. Many of us see the TSA as on organiation that is, first off, a government agency which many see as incompetent and inefficient by default. Add to that the peek-a-boo application of SOP, making up procedures as we go along, a sense of being in law enforcement, some TSA employees who should never have passed a background check and some TSA employees almost total lack of regard to the Bill of Rights and you can surely see why a lot of people are openly hostile. When successful, educated, erudite people are suddenly made beholden to the whims of a workforce that seems to be mainly comprised of folks who washed out of Wendy's management training, are more concerned about their next "break" and how unfair their schedules are than anything else, tensions run really high.

Having said this, I admire your having the grapes to come on here, break cover and engage in the discussion. I think we'll all learn a lot and you will certainly come away from this experience with some insight that your agency might actually use to improve everything. I really hope that the brain trust at the TSA doesn;t hassle yo about being on here. From what I've read so far you;re giving some really good answers.

My first question is this: I generally deal with what I see as mindless prattle with humor / sarcasm. An example would be "Where are you going today, Videopaul?" "Work, same as you." What is your training on how to deal with people who just don't want to participate, or is someone being openly sarcastic an indication of someone who isn't a threat?

--PP