Originally Posted by
battensea
I myself was taken aback last year when a uniformed agent whom I presumed was a TSA agent approached me while I was in a checkpoint queue, I think at LAX, and started playing 20 questions with me. Since I travel a lot and had never experienced this before, and since it was clear to me that not all of the travelers were being asked these questions, I started to get very annoyed. He let it rest, and off I went.
I've gotten BDO'd specifically quite a few times -- mostly when traveling with a large musical instrument. They usually come and ask me something like how long I've been playing, etc.
I'm actually fine with common-sensical stuff like that as long as it is extremely brief and non-invasive. I doubt the utility though, if I'd said, "I'm just carrying it for a friend" or just made up some stuff quickly I bet they really would not logically behave differently. Also, if I shied away from them touching it, it may have just been a really, really expensive or rare instrument, which might give a similar reaction. But to look closely at really weird stuff going through the security queue, or followup on strange observed things is fine.
What I DON'T approve of is harassing every single person with a canned interview, or assuming obvious non-terrorists are terrorists, effectively strip-searching and groping people, or just being a total jacka$$ to the average traveler, which is what the TSA currently does.