Originally Posted by whirledtraveler
I suspect you're right. The end result for people in those positions is too often resentment and attitude.
I think of the people who are problematic for travellers they broadly fall into 3 groups:
- Over enthusiastic, "Just doing my job sir", newbies who seem to ignore any latitude they have in implementing the regulations. Generally not too bad I suppose.
- Resentful people who feel they're doing a McJob and deserve better treatment from the TSA, you, their partner, or what have you and they want you to know how they feel.
- People drunk on their own "power".
I've encountered all of these types in immigration, customs and security at airports (and lets be honest, they exist in all walks of life). Of the three I can almost live with the first but the other two can largely be managed out of the system with the right policies and oversight.
Problem is, nobody cares enough to fix the problem so the attitudes prevail, travellers get more truculent and we increase the numbers of the people mentioned above. Vicious cycle and ONLY the senior management can do anything about it