Originally Posted by GUWonder
Yes, a screener will encounter far more passengers than a passenger will encounter screeners. But what you are noting only becomes meaningful if part of a platform by which to justify collective guilt & punishment and excusing the screener taking out their frustration with some on others. What I noted becomes meaningful as part of a platform of individual accountability.
Actually what I was trying to say is that perspective changes meaning. I say that a screener encounters more passengers, You say that more passengers encounter the screener. Not a word for word quote I admit, but hopefully it captures the essence of both statements. Empirically both statements mean the same thing. In practice they can serve as an indictment of either the screeners or the passengers depending which statement you use.
As for individual accountability, passengers are accountable too and what I noted is meaningful as part of a platform of individual accountability on their part. Once again perspective -- and the real truth is that everyone involved has a measure of accountability.
Finally, taking out frustration with some on others. It shouldn't happen. It does. I think you would have a hard time finding anyone in any profession that can truly ignore their internal emotions and treat each person they come in contact with neutrally. You'll find the same dynamic waiting in line at the bank, the supermarket, the hospital, or the movie theatre. Human behavior is predictable, I suffer those that annoy me knowing that a hundred more are coming that will not. I acknowledge that that's difficult to do when you're the person standing in line rather than the person controlling the line and I absolutely believe that that even if we can't always be friendly we should never practice punitive screening. Especially since punitive screening doesn't just punish the passenger, it creates more work and diverts resources from people who warrant more scrutiny to someone who warrants none.
Originally Posted by GUWonder
There's certainly a good number of similarities between the screeners and screened; however, there's the power dynamic differential and the resulting sensibility of holding those with the delegated authority accountable. Passengers don't have officially delegated authority for purpose of this discussion.
I agree, though I would add that both sides have responsibilities and a small number of people on both sides sometimes willfully and sometimes carelessly fail to meet their responsibilities. As I said before, everyone involved has a measure of accountability. I have seen enought screeners lose their jobs to know that, at least at MSP, the screeners are held accountable.