<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tsadude:
Mr Rankin, a huge majority of the screeners and supervisors are not there to hassle anyone but just to get you through the checkpoint and on with your travels.Are there some A-holes on a power trip? Yes there is and I cannot stand these jerks and jerkettes just like all of you. Passing through the checkpoint can be an easy thing. Greta Van Sustren passes through ours on a weekly basis and I have never seen her set off the mag.The same with Hulk Hogan. I can do it also. It is not hard.</font>
I resent the TSA, too, especially when it behaves stupidly, but this statement by tsadude is totally consistent with my experience. For quite a while now, I have been getting through security checkpoints in just seconds. I voluntarily take off my shoes, which have steel shanks, remove my belt and everything from my pockets, and that's it. I don't set off the metal detector, nobody is interested in my bags, and I'm on my way. I even take the time to compliment those TSA employees who are a bit more polite than usual. I tell them that we passengers really notice their better-than-usual attitude and appreciate it!
Once in a while, I run into a jerk, like the one at DCA who sent me for secondary screening for being silent! Those are exceptions, however.
None of this is intended to suggest that I am a TSA supporter, just that it IS possible to reduce your interactions with them to a bare minimum.
Bruce