chollie

gsoltso, I appreciate your attitude and wish it was shared by more of your fellow TSOs.

However...it is indeed remarkable that I can think of only one instance when TSA openly admitted wrong-doing - when Pistole apologized because Tom Sawyer's ostomy bag was mishandled by a TSO, in spite of Sawyer's warnings and pleas.

Sadly, I don't recall a second apology from Pistole or anyone else at TSA when Sawyer experienced a similar (fortunately less disastrous) handling of his ostomy bag again at the same airport.

Even statistically, it is unlikely that TSA is always right and the pax is always wrong, but Blogger Bob and various TSA spokespeople would have us believe that is the case. Even in the rare instance when TSA can't avoid admitting something didn't go well, the language is carefully chosen to suggest that the pax was somehow largely at fault for the incident and/or there was a minor hiccup in the agent's training.

If TSA wants to change the image it has of an agency that lies to cover up for its employees at all costs, it needs to stop the sickening word-smithing, openly admit when something goes wrong (the employees, not the pax, are the trained, experienced professionals) and release all footage all the time.

Note: in this particular instance, TSA claims video review didn't reveal any female pax rolling up their sleeves. ??? The question was whether or not ONE particular pax, this woman, was asked to roll up her sleeves. The wording leads me to conclude that TSA never viewed the footage; if they had, they would have known the specific agent involved and would have been able to release the footage to back up their assertions.