Originally Posted by The Real McCoy
In reading this forum, it seems that some people are just repeatedly singled out and A** raped in full public view everytime they move with 3 miles of any airport in the United States.
Other, like me, have basically never had any difficulties with security.
Why is that? Are some people just more sensitive to security screenings than others? Do some people bring scrutiny on themselves by their words, actions or travel habits? Do some people just naturally "look suspicious" and peak the interest of TSA?
I don't travel as much as some folks, but I've probably had 25 roundtrip flights, with connection, in the past year. The only time I've gotten SSSS is when I purchased one-way tickets. I thought it was a foolish selection criteria, but the actual screening wasn't really a big deal.
I've never been selected for additional screening when the metal detector didn't alarm. Sometime when it did alarm it was my own fault for being forgetful (or still asleep for a 6:00 am flight) and leaving a cellphone in my pocket or something stupid like that. In those cases, TSA allowed me to remove the offending item and walk through the detector again... no secondary.
Why have others had such horrible experiences - repeatedly - while I never have?
Looking at it from the other side, I see three basic reasons:
1. Frustration in general. People don't want to be inconvenienced. This is especially true among the frequent flyers who feel that they ought to be given some sort of special consideration since they've established themselves as non-threats over the period of time that they've frequently travelled. While they do understand the fundamental concept behind security, they believe there ought to be some sort of exception applied to them to at least exempt them from the more intrusive aspects of security. Contributing to, and legitimizing their frustration, are the inconsistent applications of the exact same screening policy at different airports. Same pair of shoes can be worn through the WTMD at one airport and "recommended" they be removed at another.
2. Determined ignorance of security. This isn't meant as an offensive remark. There are some people who just don't get it. I'm talking about people who have no clue about security whatsoever. The difference between this group and the previous one is that they can't be reasoned with. Everything is a conspiracy to them and they simply refuse to even try to understand why things are the way they are. They also tend to be racist...on both sides. Had a black woman who actually complained to me because I did not provide a black female screener to wand her. She felt she was being singled out because she was black, and she felt that all of this was some sort of government conspiracy to keep black people in their place....whatever the hell that means. Fortunately, this is a very small number of people.
3. Whiners and complainers. These are the folks who just love to complain. Deep down they probably understand why security is the way it is, but they will complain nonetheless. You can spot these people when you greet them in the morning by commenting on what a beautiful day it is, and they respond with, "it's probably going to rain."