Carl Johnson

With everything having to do with the TSA, I am as serious as a heart attack. After lying awake all night worrying about it, I don't know why they don't evacuate the terminal if the bags are improperly screened. That's the thing to do. The screening at the checkpoint is our last line of defense against another September 11 style attack! Some random bag screening can't be counted on to stop a terrorist who has slipped past the checkpoint. If a terrorist sees the gate screening, what's to stop him from just leaving his nefarious device to wreak havoc at the gate? Or to take it back to the checkpoint to wreak even more havoc at the densely packed checkpoint queue? Or to take it to baggage claim and drop it on the carousel?

Anyway, if I am asked to have my bag screened at the gate, I will urge that the terminal be evacuated. We passengers are the twentieth layer of defense, and I guess one of the ways we function is to point out to TSA officers problems that they may have overlooked. It worries me, though, to think that the TSA has overlooked weaknesses and problems. For us to be safe, the TSA has to get it right every time.