This, robodeer, was the first time that any TSA agent has told me that I had to remove my jewelry to go through security.

Heretofore, the most common form of repeated stupidity that I have endured is TSA agents refusing to allow me to keep my purse in my presence throughout the screening process. Since the one infamous occasions where I was denied boarding at PDX for holding my ground on the "purse in sight" issue, the agents have always backed down when challenged, so I am assuming that the consequences of that original incident rippled through their systems and resulted in more in-depth education for TSA agents.

Giving people who are unfamiliar with power, small bits of power here and there is inherently dangerous.