Advance apologies for resurrecting an old thread... didn't see a newer one easily in search.
4/14/08, the TSA was doing gate screening at LAX.
Went to board UA 1190, LAX-DEN, and saw three TSA staffers sitting in the waiting area next to the podium.
"Uh-oh," I thought. I absolutely could not do a gate screening: (1) I had a tight connection in DEN (38 minutes); (2) the flight was totally full; (3) the seats I had have lessened overhead space which fills rapidly (and I couldn't afford to stow bags somewhere far from my seat--I needed to be able to deplane rapidly at DEN).
One TSA guy--a supervisor--stood at the gate with a clipboard he was making notes on, and apparently was choosing who to subject to the gate grope.
They snagged someone in the F/1K/UGS line (not the first pax--that "random" element seems to have gone away). The guy was NOT pleased, and the TSA was taking their sweet time going through his bags and wanding and patting him down.
The Ma and Pa Kettles ahead of me in the boarding line (zone 3 pax who showed up when they called zone 1 to board, and clearly who were not very frequent travelers) were incredulous. "Didn't they already screen us?" the woman demanded. I replied that it was a waste of time and incredible stupidity, to which she agreed.
I managed to make it past the supervisor without drawing his notice (it may have helped that they were still groping down the first selectee) and boarded. Saw him come on board several (10+) minutes later, not a happy camper.
TSA.