I think it's often simpler than that. A number of the TSO's just like jacking with people who they can detect have a low opinion of the TSA. That's mostly people who fly multiple times a week. Consequently, they see us roll up to the checkpoint, organize ourselves in 10 seconds flat and send our stuff in meticulous order through the xray, negotiate the WTMD without pausing or making eye contact with the dork motioning us to wait, and repacking our things at the other end quickly and again without providing an ounce of recognition to the dork behind the conveyor. I find that at this point, one or other of the SPOTters will have approached either of the two dorks, whisper something in their ear and the next thing you know, someone wants to swab your laptop or challenge you about an item in the bin. So, while this McDonalds effect might be a part of it, there's a lot of war psychology at play too. Thankfully, they are very predictable, so if we, en masse decided to wear them down emotionally, it would not be a particularly difficult task. Just my 2 pesos - perhaps unnecessarily belligerent, but then again maybe not belligerent enough, given the sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in.