Originally Posted by crhptic
At most airports I fly through the screeners' badges are often hidden, but they usually seem to have little metal name-tags which say something like "ROBERT 10367" on them.
If you are offended by this practice and wish to respond in kind, perhaps you could start addressing the screener as "Mr. 10367" or better yet, "Unit 10367"
Sightly off topic for a moment -- if a screeners covers up their nametag with their first name and employee number, it's a violation of their SOP and you need to file a complaint and immediately speak to a supervisor. I had that happen to me a while ago when I confronted a screener who violated the Privacy Act by taking my boarding pass and writing down Privacy Act-protected personal information without advising me in writing (lots of posts onthis subject). My discussion of the Privacy Act elevated into a supervisor-level conversation. I watched out of the corner of my eye and when the screener dropped her guard and removed her hand from the front of her badge, I stopped, turned towards her and said "Gotcha!" and copied down her information for my complaint form. I turned back to the supervisor and told her that her subordinate had deliberately covered her badge and that I expectedher to be disciplined.
OK -- back on topic: Any TSA agent who takes the liberty to call a passenger by their first name during the conduct of screening is simply unprofessional -- pure & simple. Yes, I tell them that when it happens.