Originally Posted by VideoPaul
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I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm not in the TSA because I can't take the pay cut and I have a lot better things to do with my time than provide flaccid window dressing to a problem that you are doing nothing to solve.
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So are you saying that we should just give up? Flying should be a calculated risk?
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Come on, sonny. Let's all grow up and get ourselves into the real world here. The TSA screeners, when "suggesting" or "recommending" that you take off your shoes and you don't, you're going to be deliberately inconveniencced because you did not follow the dictums of the reichstag.
The suggestion that you remove your shoes comes from several things. One, you could be reminded to remove your shoes based on two things. The thickness of the sole and the other is the chance that it has a metal shank. The thing that comes into play here is that you are outside the sterile area and while being there means that you are going in. IT doesnt mean that TSA can force you to remove your shoes. This is a choice. IF you are suggested to, to remove your shoes and you dont, you get sent down to be checked. There are screeners that suggest to everyone that they remove their shoes. This isnt the goal of the agency though but if you are asked to remove them and you dont, a reason for secondary screening becomes apparent. That reason is that you may be trying to hide something. THere is a sign out of the checkpoint that says that all shoes must be screened. There are three types of screening: Visual, xray and secondary. Secondary includes handwand and etd swab. So as a screener makes a judgement call during the visual to suggest that you remove your shoes, you counter with a reason not to. The screener counters with the other choice because of your choice.
I was at the shoe carnival at DEN and was told that I had a choice between taking my shoes off in the main line, or taking them off at secondary. THERE IS A MUCH PUBLICIZED STATEMENT FROM NORMAN MINETA STATING VERY CLEARLY THAT SHOE REMOVAL IS VOLUNTARY, so are you now going to sit there and defend a screener making up his own policy, causing someone with signed medical documentation of a back injury so severe it requires schedule 3 narcotics to manage pain to writhe in pain taking his shoes off?
You dont have to take them off in secondary either, unless they cause an alarm of the handwand or the ETD. The question is of course how the person with the documentation handled the situation.
It's retaliatory. Some (not all, but some) screeners are running their own little fiefdom. And unless you have a lot of time (which no one does at DEN) you'll miss your flight. Now that my back is cleared up, I make a big damn deal about taking them off and take up as much time and space as I can putting them back on. One mouth-breathing screener at EWR told me "Move down, you're holding up the line" and I looked right at her and told this gum-cracking reprobate "If we weren't forced to disrobe, this wouldn't be anissue, you want the shoes off, deal with it, lady."
Its not retaliatory, its reactionary! Viva la difference. As far as time goes, why was the person so late? You are aware that it is recommended that you arrive 90 minutes or more before your flight. You are late? Its not TSA who's at fault.
If other flyers want to be ordered around like cattle, that's their choice. America was founded ont he concept of freedoms and rights, and the TSA is violating both on a regular basis.
Show me where it says that you have the right to fly in US constitution?
"I have seen the videos". Wow, is that what you folks do behind the doors of the training rooms? WATCH VIDEOS? Perhaps they could show you videos on:
1) Not cracking gum in front of passengers
2) Getting all TSA screeners to learn to close their mouths all the way when not speaking. Honestly, some of you look like you're missing a chromosome.
3) STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT WHEN YOUR NEXT BREAK IS. If you were REALLY all that concerned abotu security, you'd pay attention to what you are doing and stop obsessing over your next break. I have not gone throguh ONE TSA check point in the last year and a half where I did not hear at least one of you fine, fine, highly trained "professionals" grousing about breaks, schedules, or supervisors. And by the say, let's look at the term "professioanal" here. A DOCTOR is a professional. An ATTORNEY is a professional. When was the last time you ears your physician or your lawyer complain that they were late for break, or cracked gum in your face?
I have managed to ignore most of your insults till this point. You arent showing anything by name calling other than your limited intellectual resources. As far as professional goes, the problem doesnt lay with the front line, it extends up the chain of supervision. TSA hires people of all mannerisms. IF that offends you, then walk to your next trip destination. As far as chatter about breaks is concerned, please pity the screeners that have to deal with the likes of whiners like you for hours on end.
That is correct. Put up or shut up. WYSIWYG this is how airport security is and you are aware of it so take it or leave it.
You may in fact be the one person in the TSA that follows the rules and acts in a truly professional manner, but the rest of the crew of a 5 billion dollar joke. If this is the case, I hope your high standards of safety and comportment rub off on everyone else with the white shirts and sewn-on badges, becasue there is a LOT of work to do.
An attempt to make ammends for all your snide remarks? A little too late! I cant get in with the crowd of amazingly adept supervision because I tell it like it is.
Just curious, if the TSA crew is so incredibly professional, why did we hear about felons having to be fired from the ranks, and I wonder how many people now protecting us from our shoes were on public assistance before this giant jobs program got launched?
Ah another cheap shot from the bleachers. Well if you had followed the hearings that were on the subject that you mention, you would know that the ramp up to meet the required staffing over ran the capacity of the agency doing the background checks. As far as a jobs program is concerned, I was working at IBM making very good money before the IT industry bottomed out. I was on unemployment for 8 months before TSA called to hire me. You cant judge a screener by the shoes that he wore before he joined the ranks of those people patriotic enough to do something to try and make a difference.