Originally Posted by manacit

This mirrors my experience, though I have done it fewer than 40 times. It's always been a fast and easy affair for me to clear security at SAN, even when Pre is closed and you get the "pre light" experience.

But honestly, I find the TSA infuriating and inconsistent. Call it a rant, but as a government "service" I interact with frequently they are often rude, abrasive and needlessly punitive. I've been shouted at by the LAX TBIT TSA for daring to do something like "try to go through a lane that looks open but hasn't been roped off yet", scolded for listening to the person earlier in line telling me to take my laptop out and put it in it's own bin, and tons of other things that have escalated to clear frustration without it being necessary. Leave aside the fact that at SEA there is often someone screaming for no reason about taking things out of your pockets even when everyone is clearly in range to hear someone speaking at normal volume.

Recently (LAX TBIT) the x-ray machine was apparently "sensitive that day" and going off for random things, to the point where >50% of the passengers were setting off the machine. Instead of warning people in advance, staff would shout at people about their shoes after they had tried to go through, as if it was their fault that the footwear they had worn for their last flight had started setting machines off for the first time.

Ultimately, the culture of the TSA clearly makes it acceptable for staff to take out whatever mood they're in on passengers - whatever training they get about politeness does not reflect in the culture of the organization, and this has held true at pretty much every airport I've flown through.