Originally Posted by
BearX220
We don't approve of screaming at United Airlines employees who are trying to do their best because we think their management is a gang of inept, value-destroying monsters. I think Ross should be afforded the same consideration.
Yes, TSA operations are often irrational. FT can be irrational also. I dropped off the TS/S board a long time ago after some lunatic posted a passionate argument in favor of tracking down TSA employees in private life, harassing and ostracizing them, and suggesting that any resulting suicides would count as just moral victories. I want no part of that sort of reaction to a "decade of frustration," and I strongly suggest FT do its best to give Ross a civil reception, not the ten-cent Perry Mason interrogative treatment.
I get your point, but I haven't seen anything yet that rises to the level of the lunatic post you cite.
Both sides have to be frank and respectful. Respect doesn't just mean not screaming and ranting; it also means not insulting someone's intelligence. It is difficult to believe that someone who flies frequently and who has frequented this forum for quite a while has never even heard of the 'name game'.
FT is one of the more civil forums around, even on its worst days, IMHO. I occasionally read comments in linked news stories, and frankly, sometimes I think those people are a disgrace to the human race. If they're representative of the public at large, we are in big trouble.
I'm sure you, like me, occasionally encounter a poster who you consider offensive (there's one on OMNI right now trying to badger me into a response). You don't even need the ignore button. You can suggest that if the poster frames the questions in gentler language, you will be willing to respond.
Overall, even at its worst, I think the quality of information and the level of discourse in this forum, even at its most heated and worst, still ranks far above the TSA HQ Blog - a blog that we flyers and taxpayers fund, a blog purportedly started precisely to engage and inform the public.