Originally Posted by
WillCAD
Bernard, expecting any TSA employee to exhibit common courtesy, respect, compassion, human dignity, or the slightest regard for any living thing other than themselves, is... expecting too much. It's somewhat like expecting a bird to say excuse me when it drops it's waste byproducts on your head.
The main difference being, of course, that TSA is dropping it's waste byproducts on the Constitution of the United States, and all of the rights and freedoms that said Constitution exists to protect and preserve.
I'm sure it's been done-to-death here already but neither the TSA nor immigration/customs officials project a good image of the US when they behave rudely. Mind you, I have experienced equally bad behaviour at British airports (and we don't even have a written constitution for them to crap on) just as I have experienced real courtesy and a friendly manner from the vast majority of the officials I have dealt with in both countries.
Come to think of it, the only other memorably bad experience was flying domestically out of PHX a few years back...and that was the TSA as well.