Originally Posted by
docmonkey
I wouldn't expect floor employees would make up policy on the fly, but I would hope they would push back and tell their supervisors that they are unwilling to enforce wasteful policies that accomplish nothing and demean everyone involved in the process.
And TSA has several programs that allow all sorts of input from employees ranging from suggested changes in procedures to ways to improve the work place, safety issues, morale issues, etc. But I think you're being unrealistic when you say you expect employees to "push back." Perhaps you mean to take advantage of these programs such as suggestion boxes, EEO, Civil Rights, etc. as opposed to open disobedience.
Originally Posted by docmonkey
I'm not in an executive position by any measure, but I am comfortable in knowing that the people who report to me are smart enough to know when going against a stated policy is wise and defensible. The professionals I supervise would quickly find other jobs if they were consistently asked to carry out senseless policies that made them look like nonthinking automatons (in public, no less).
Of course, we have some policies that I would never expect employees to break; however, these policies are based on common sense and professional ethics. You can't say the same about your rules about x-raying baby shoes.
I can understand your point as a person outside of TSA looking in. However, you yourself admit that there are some policies that are cast in stone, and that you do not expect employees to arbitrarily deviate from those policies. Where I agree with you is that TSA ought to allow more flexibility on the floor in terms of its procedures. There are two reasons why some of these common sense deviations aren't allowed: either supervisors are too hesitant or unsure of the degree of latitude that they have, or the procedure is written in such a manner that it doesn't allow any wiggle room for latitude. I'm from the school of seeking forgiveness rather than permission. And I admit that it gets me in trouble from time to time. I don't know how often I'm truly breaking the rules or if I'm exercising the latitude and flexibility that is permitted in the SOP. To tell you the truth, I don't worry about it. I never duck responsibility for my actions.
I agree that x-raying baby shoes doesn't pass the common sense test. If you scroll back, you'll see that I don't have mothers remove shoes from their babies.
Originally Posted by docmonkey
Who on this forum hasn't complained, with letters to members of congress, airport officials, and the TSA itself? Do you seriously think someone would go to the trouble of wearing a silly T-shirt that makes fun of your boss but would not bother sending complaint letters to the TSA and his/her elected representatives?
If you read some of the posts in this forum, sounds like either some folks don't bother complaining because they lack confidence that it will do any good, or they may have complained once or twice---didn't receive satisfaction---and no longer bother with the complaint process. Also, as I've stated in other posts, the complaints need specific details: the basic who, what, where, when, how and sometimes why. Emotionally-charged complaints don't go very far in any organization. And some passengers use complaint forms as ways to vent their anger and frustration but leave the FSD with very little to work with to truly effect any change.
Again, I've recommended some alternative methods. Some forum members have shot me down for this, but I would like to think that there are those who take it as intended: constructive advice, and who hopefully have taken it to heart.
Originally Posted by docmonkey
You might call it hyperbole, but you haven't walked in the shoes of some of the women who underwent these pat downs. What do you think of what the former Congresswoman in the article had to say?
You can call these searches what you will.
There's a huge difference between a breast exam at the doctor's office and the pat-down search at the checkpoint. Here's a clue: the female TSOs are NOT comfortable with the policy. In fact, every year, for both male and female TSOs, we have our "train-up" for the annual hands-on practical evaluation exercises. A government contractor evaluates our TSOs on all the basic screening techniques. The biggest source of failures is for not being intrusive enough on the pat-down searches. We have a double standard: how we do it on the floor and how we do it in the testing room.
As I kid with my TSOs during classroom instruction: "there is no shame in that room, when I leave, that evaluator knows he was touched by another man."
Yes, the references to breast exams and strip searches are nothing but empty hyperbole and silly rhetoric.
Originally Posted by docmonkey
Also, in your post you attributed my quotes to bocastephen. No big deal.
Oops. I fat-fingered during my cutting and pasting.