Originally Posted by
QUERY
No TSO can compel you to use a specific lane. No TSO should be yelling at you, period. So long as you remain calm and do not impede the screening process, there is nothing they can do.
Ahh, but there's the problem. The rule against "interfering with the screening process" is awfully vague. We've seen it used to attack passengers who did nothing more than standing around passively observing the checkpoint. I can easily imagine a scenario in which a bad TSO "orders" a passenger into a particular screening lane, the passenger chooses a different lane, and the TSO takes that disobedience as "interfering with the screening process" and escalates the situation into a full-blown conflict.
(Aside. I understand why the "interfering with the screening process" rule is in place, and I also understand why the definition of the rule is vague. I'm not arguing with that. But I've also seen here that the rule can be, and has been, abused.)