Originally Posted by
roberino
If he was "bored" and "looking to kill some time" then clearly he was surplus to requirements at a cost that is picked up by the US taxpayer. Doesn't this trouble you?
For me ... based on only one data point, no. Traffic through an airport checkpoint doesn't proceed at a steady rate; there will be times of high-demand and times of low-demand. If TSA staffs its checkpoint for low-demand times, there will never be idle TSOs --- but there will be long checkpoint lines (at which point, the FT population will scream about the waste of their time). If TSA staffs its checkpoint for high-demand times, there will be moments when TSOs are idle (at which point, the FT population will scream about the waste of their tax dollars).
About the only thing constant is FT screaming about the TSA.