Originally Posted by
chollie
Your response exemplifies some of the problems pax face, doesn't it?
On this forum, we have two posters who self-identify as TSOs, two posters that I think most on this forum would agree really are who they say they are.
One says (read the thread yourself) that there are rules in place governing the length and weight of walking sticks/canes, aka 'assistive devices'. Specific rules that are not available to the public but that are in force. This TSO confirmed with one of the supervisors involved in the incident (pictured in a photo) what took place and why.
The other says that there are no such rules in place at his airport or others that he has checked with (did that include DEN?).
In other words, the actor in question still has no way of knowing in advance if his cane will be allowed, disallowed, or conditionally ('just this once') allowed (assuming he questions the ruling, as he did) when he approaches the airport.
I know how he feels, because, contrary to what you suggest should have happened, my nitro pills were confiscated at a checkpoint. There is no published exemption for nitro pills or patches on the website. If there is SSI SOP information (like the rules about 'assistive devices' at DEN), it is not available to me, the pax. Nor have any TSOs come forward to indicate that there is SSI SOP information (like that governing cane/walking stick dimensions) making an allowance for nitro pills or patches.
Unlike the actor, I'm not going to question or argue the decision at the checkpoint. I'm not going to risk LE's being summoned or getting arrested or being detained like Stacy Amato for interfering with the screening process.
I hear what you are saying, and I understand the frustration, probably not as well or intensely as you do, but I have a grasp on it. I have long said that from a personal POV, there is much more information that we should publish with respect to transiting the checkpoints - essentially, if you can sit in front of a checkpoint and watch for 15 minutes (or pass through 2-3 times) and learn what is going on in the basic process, I feel it should be published so passengers have a better understanding of what to expect. Which leads to the second part of this, your experience should be roughly the same regardless of what checkpoint you are going through.
Minor variations here and there are to be expected, but the basic process should be pretty close to the same thing whether coming through our checkpoints here, or LAX or LGA or wherever else TSA operates the screening procedures. The way we approach the job should be essentially identical - professional and courteous (I do not expect everyone to be outgoing and friendly like I am, but professional and courtious should be the
minimum you should expect to run into).