Originally Posted by Bart
Complaining about a screener who fails to follow correct procedure is legitimate discussion. As you can see in this and in other threads, I've addressed these issues head-on by explaining the correct procedure and offering options passengers may exercise to ensure they are not abused by overzealous or incompetent screeners.
General comments such as "breast exam" or "groping" or "shoe carnival" are nothing more than rhetoric intended to inflame emotions and imply that TSA deliberately condones abusing the public. These type of comments have no place in a serious discussion between adults.
I know that not every airport follows the correct procedures, and I know that there are screeners among our ranks who need to be weeded out for a variety of reasons ranging from poor customer service skills to outright theft. I am also interested in seeing these people removed from our ranks. This is why my recurring theme comes back to submitting written complaints with detailed information including the screener's or supervisor's name.
We can have an overall general philosophical disagreement about airport security screening. I respect that. However, whining about these sort of generalities is no more productive than whining about taxes, weather or aging. These are realities in life; airport screening is a reality in life.
I'm eager to discuss airport security topics, but I'm not interested in the TSA-bashing, name-calling, "gub'mint conspiracy," "the terrorists have won" type of childish discussions that tend to characterize a significant number of the threads in this forum.
Fair enough?
No. I think you are out of bounds. Legitimate discussion is not something you get to define for the forum. The terms you referred to, shoe carnival etc, are not designed to inflame. They are a reaction to enflamement caused by some incredibly stupid policies. Calling the reactions childish may be a nice way remove oneself but it is poor public relations and it demeans legitimate sentiment and opinion. I wouldn't expect anyone imposed upon to artfully "act adult" by hiding their emotions. If anything that doubles the injustice.
For what it is worth, your more emotional replies on these issues have been refreshing. They make you more human to me, more than just a guy who recites policy.