who are these people that now represent the TSA at our airports?"
Here you go. I was a guy that needed a job but the job market sucked, then 9/11 happened. I wanted to do something to help, anything and a friend told me about a private airport security firm hiring.
I signed up and got the job on the spot. I went through a week of in class training and then got sent out to the checkpoint. I was given a shadow for the first two weeks until I met the requirements and then I got set loose on the unsuspecting passengers. X-ray interpation was easy for me and I caught onto it really quick.
The procedures and such in my view were always straight forward and easy to use on the checkpoint. For a long while I had the mind set that the pointy object search was a good thing. About a year of this led to me hating my private employer, as far as management because of abuses they did to their staff.
The TSA finally rolled out at my airport and I worked a week doing baggage searches and Sky chef screening. Finally my date for TSA testing came and I passed it with clear colors. The next week I was in training for TSA and again passed without a problem, scoring high marks on the x-ray testing in the process. Did a perfect 100% 3 times on the program they had us train on, just stopped using it after that.
I worked with TSA and my mindset on the whole thing changed. I didn't feel like I was doing anything to help anymore. I felt some of the procedures were either, look-busy or CYA. I felt that those kinds of policies had no place in security.
One day I'm reading a newspaper on lunch and happen to see a article about the new shoe kick. I notice something about flyertalk and say what the heck. Pretty soon I decide to come on here and read what people post. I actually read a lot of the stuff and have to say that I agree with a lot of whats being posted in regards to current policies. But I also see a lot of misunderstanding as far as what screeners are doing. So I join up.
Pretty soon I start looking for employment else where. And this past week I left the employment of TSA for bigger and better things.