Originally Posted by TSORon

Sadly enough there are to many posters here who with limited experience with the TSA automatically assume the absolute worst about the officers charged with ensuring the safety of the flying public. Most if not all have been exposed to this forum, the EOS blog, and occasionally to actual TSO’s on the check point 15 seconds at a time. Its easy to take a single poor interaction with someone and hold it like the security blanket of our childhoods, never letting it out of our sight, never straying very far from it. We hold it so close that we can rarely see beyond its phantom comfort.

You can only see them as jack-booted thugs, intent on ruining your day, taking your personal property, and delaying your transit to the sterile area. You fail to see the humans behind the uniform. The men and women who get up at 1:30am to be on the checkpoint by 3am, who endure the continuous changes of policy and procedure, who were courageous enough to accept jobs on the front line of America’s Anti-Terrorism efforts, dangerous though it may be. They endure low pay, long and unusual hours, less than perfect working conditions, unidentified hazardous materials, the diseases and infections of those passengers they come into contact with, undeserved attitude and the occasional cussing out, and a whole host of other things that make the job less than pleasant at times.

On the other hand, we get to deal with the people. 98% of them are really nice to work with. Some not quite so, but the ones that make life interesting are those that impart a portion of their life on the TSO and make our day by being not only prepared for the checkpoint but pleasant to have there. Kids specially are great to have on the checkpoint. Curiosity is the biggest thing we see from them. They want to know what’s going on, and why. Kinda fun to hear the parents try and explain things to them.

One of my favorite jobs on the checkpoint is the TSO at the Walk Through Metal Detector. Imagine the reaction of a 9 year old when I ask him if he has any Buicks in his pocket, or washers and driers, or PSP’s, DVD, Game Boys, or rocks. Or when I tell a new mother that we don’t allow babies in the X-Ray. The WTMD is an opportunity for me to have a bit of fun while working. Fun with the passengers, fun with the kids, and still get them through to their aircraft with a minimum of fuss.

So much of the posting here is complaints. Sure, I didn’t start here in the best of ways, but then again this conversation has been going on a very long time, and I have been here only a few weeks. You people have been screaming your complaints for a few years now, and yet you continue to do so to this day. I get the feeling its no longer about improving the situation, but about the complaining. Some of you just don’t realize that, your having to much fun complaining.