Originally Posted by Bart
I still maintain that there's a "gut instinct" that is inherent in all of us. However, due to our own cultural upbringing, we dismiss these instincts or rationalize them away. Human interaction is far more than verbal communication. Body language is a key part of communication. In fact, 80% of communication is non-verbal, yet many of us dismiss it so quickly and rely on the 20% that is verbal.
As an intelligence officer, I had to be sensitive to the whole package. I've seen some intelligence officers take a scientific approach to the business and fail miserably. They were too mechanical and they failed to take cultural differences into account. There were others who had this knack of picking up on the subtleties of non-verbals and were quite successful.
Bart, you continue to impress me. If the other TSA screeners had real LEO or intelligence experience, the TSA would actually be effective and not such a wandering joke. My big question is, why aren't more people like you with a functioning brain, some experience in security and the right atitude and training in the TSA? The difference between you and that moron in EWR TA that gave me the infamous "I nah dem, dey nah me!" response is as far as you can get and yet you wear the same uniform. Something is seriously wrong here. Why, I'll bet you've never cracked gum in front of a passenger!
--PP