Originally Posted by Superguy
No, I don't support micromanagement. However, there is a big problem if management doesn't know the SOP. It's a big problem that screeners aren't familiar with it either (or at least appear to be), as they're the ones that are supposed to be enforcing it.
I might be a relatively low person at work and haven't been working there as long as others have (well, if you go by the GS scale, I'm an 11, so not terribly low), but I for darn sure know enough of the SOP to do my job and to keep out of trouble for violating it (and yes, it can have serious consequences). If I don't know a procedure, I ask.
Bart, you and I both know that a lot of the "security" going on now is politics and cheap PR. If it wasn't, we wouldn't have shoe carnivals, multiple ID checks, people barking at checkpoints, etc and more resources going to bigger vulnerabilities like cargo and personnel that actually have access to the plane (a la catering trucks). It's CYA mode to appear like they're doing something to protect us, but it puts undue pain and strain on folks like you and folks like the rest of us.
If I'm going to complain, I want to take my complaint to someone who knows their stuff. If the screener knows more than management, we're all screwed. That means that TSA is an inverted pyramid with the knowledge at the bottom of the heap with management on top with little knowledge. Maybe that's the case now.
I know you know a lot and that you don't fit that mold. However, the average screeners (and supervisors for that matter) fit that mold.
Super
I'd like to re-explain my original response. Screening managers should have a working knowledge of screening operations. The real experts ought to be supervisors and lead screeners. The problem is that there are some screening managers who have no knowledge of the SOP and rely too much on supervisors. Then there are others who, because they were former supervisors, forget that they are now managers and tend to get their hands on the specifics of the job and make it frustrating for everybody else. It requires true leadership to understand the difference. Like the old Kenny Rogers song, gotta know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.
My distaste for micromanagement comes from my military experiences. I've seen full bull colonels get into the weeds of things that should have been handled by captains. The result is that we end up losing our on-the-ground flexibility that is so crucial to successful military operations. While checkpoint operations in no way is comparable to reconnaissance patrols or combat raids, the same concept of leadership still applies.
Getting back to the basic issue here, when a passenger complains to a screening manager about the way a certain procedure was conducted, the screening manager should have a working knowledge of how it
should have been conducted. A smart screening manager will
mentor the supervisor in the right direction so that the matter is handled competently, professionally and decisively. Unfortunately, there are some screaming managers (no Freudian slip here) who assume the role of supervisor and begin dictating how things ought to be run. Of course, again speaking from my military background, I hold the supervisors in contempt for not having the testical fortitude to stand up to the screening managers when this happens.
I may be completely out of line with my way of thinking. I'm still a rookie in civilian government circles and am still learning about the rinky dink way decisions are carried out and the chickensh*t manner that CYA measures are implemented. For a great majority of my military career, I've worked in what could be described as elite units where competence was never in question except when dealing with the paper-pushing careerist staff pukes at headquarters. So, yes, there are things within the TSA realm that I find frustrating. When I think about it some more, I realize that perhaps that's the way things are in regular conventional military units; I just wasn't exposed to it as often because of some pretty unique assignments.
At any rate, I hope the OP submits a complaint and fries that supervisor. As passengers, you have every right to be treated with courtesy and respect. I'm a firm believer in this.