Originally Posted by
ratherhike
There may be another possibility. Maybe the rules aren't that clear. If a private company produced a product that every single minute of every day customers used incorrectly, do you think that would assume a: they are stupid, b: they are purposely using it wrong, or c: we need to rewrite the directions for use
Welcome to FT! As much as I like where you're going with this answer, I will give Ron credit for one thing: rules like, "Don't pack heat in your carry-on," should be pretty simple and self-explanatory, and the few who do so anyway absolutely fit into Category A.
That said, I pretty frequently see people get anything from a lecture to a chewing-out because they left their toothpaste in their bag, didn't think that the ID in their pocket would trigger the NOS, or, my favorite, didn't take their belt off before going through the WTMD/NOS. That last one's my favorite because taking your belt off is not a requirement, just a suggestion.
While I can get behind some of the TSA's rules, like, you know, no guns on planes, it's the inane little ones like the shoe carnival and the Freedom Baggie that I see accidentally broken so often that I would agree with your thoughts entirely that it's not stupid passengers, it's stupid rules.