It is really amazing how much TSA staff and resources were focused on me for the better part of an hour. It's like they had nothing else to do.

Bruce

This is what always baffles me about the TSA. If a big bad terrorist group wanted to sneak something through a checkpoint wouldn't one of the oldest tricks in the book be to send a world class a**hole through first, who would be sure to stir up a ruckus? The TSA has shown repeatedly that they'll swarm like bees on to a single passenger that dares to challenge them, while basically ignoring the other passengers in line. You would think this would be rule #1 in that extensive 3 week training program. "Do not get distracted. Maintain control and situational awareness". But that would require some semblance of an IQ.

I'm going to assume that you are NOT a DHS/TSA troll (because assuming otherwise with these first-time posters who jump in to defend the TSA has gotten me in...um..."trouble" in here before :p).

So, if you really are a new member and traveler who was just stating your opinion, I would urge you to go read more in this forum before you post a single word that appears to even remotely defend this disgusting agency. Read about how I was sexually assaulted, and physically assaulted until I cried out in pain. About how my elderly disabled mother was sexually assaulted, physically assaulted until she cried out in pain, forced to urinate on herself, and publicly humiliated.

Read about the young mother who was harassed for over an hour, publicly humiliated, and forced to dump her breast milk out (which she is allowed to transport by TSA's own rules). Read about the man in a wheelchair who was forced to hop on one leg, with no assistance, through the nude-o-scope, so he could be irradiated and viewed naked. Read about the woman who was ARRESTED and prosecuted for supposedly "assaulting" a TSO when she attempted to carry medically-necessary food for her elderly disabled mother on a plane (which she is allowed to do by TSA's own rules).

Read about the man who, in spite of his pleas to not touch it, had his urostomy bag popped, with no apology, then forced to fly covered with urine. Read about all the survivors of sexual assault who are being terrorized and traumatized by having strangers shove their hands forcibly up into their sex organs. Read about the many TSOs who appear to be on power trips and take disgusting actions on innocent civilians for no valid reason whatsoever - only because they can.

And those are just the few stories that pop into the top of my head. There are hundreds more.

Then come back in here and see if you want to defend a single action that the TSA takes. And question why we approach every encounter with the TSA with suspicion and disgust.

They deserve every bit of sarcasm that might come their way from travelers who are sick and tired of having our 4th Amendment rights horrifically violated every time we want to travel.

:rolleyes:

To state it from a different angle: this story shows a process and management failure.

A retaliatory search easily diverted the full attention of multiple employees. That's an attitude and training problem. When supervisors reinforced the flawed actions, that's a management problem. Throughout this event, no one recognized the true situation of petty screeners, an illegal search of papers, and failed security.

The TSA dismisses the GSA tests of gate security as being "too clever". It doesn't take very much cleverness at all to spot and exploit these gaping holes.

^^^^^
yes. and look up the word "Apparatchik" and its context. That is exactly what is going on throughout this 60,000 trogolodyte organization. Pure and simple.

Yes, Tom M. makes an excellent point. They were scarily easily diverted from their purpose.

OP- you're right, that point was lost on me: the title of your post was its main point. You focused on Name Lady demanding an apology, and claiming you couldn't leave without giving one. Like someone else said, that might be worth following up on. I still think asking the first woman, "Is it real?" was being sarcastic, and it's better to keep a positive attitude and let her slowness slide. Just like I let slide someone here implying I'm a troll. ;)
I haven't had a lot of exposure to TSA, yet, and I would hate to see the the day that I go into an airport looking to fight with a person checking my passport.

Thank you for the welcome and congratulations, PhlyingRPh.

Sometimes it's helpful to read a forum for a while before jumping in, just to gain some understanding of the culture. In this forum, there has been a distinct pattern of one-post trolls popping in to defend the TSA. They rarely return, because their position is indefensible. If you'd seen that as much as we have, you'd understand why we are suspicious of a new member who, in his/her first couple of posts, appears to take the TSA's side.

Once you do, you will undoubtedly understand why we feel such disgust at every single employee of this out-of-control, money-wasting, abusive agency. Once you've been assaulted, abused, illegally detained, and treated like a criminal, you too will walk up to every TSO with disgust and dripping sarcasm. You too will struggle to speak with civility to these offensive violators.

Every employee of the TSA is a part of this abuse. They all know what's going on, and what is being done to us. Yet they chose to continue to work there. They continue to remain in the employ of this agency that violates innocent travelers every single day.

I completely understand that you don't feel this way yet. Strap on a medical device and try getting through a TSA checkpoint a few times, and you will.

LeeAnne, I beg to differ. I feel as you do, but I think that SilentCat's initial perception, uncolored by prior posts, and others is useful. It provides a fresh, though perhaps naive perspective. As you state below, SilentCat, will likely see the agency and its agents for what it really is.

Agreed! Because there were several points in this incident where you could have de-escalated the whole thing, without ever needing to be confrontational.

I know that. At some level, I enjoy fighting with the TSA, if only because in so doing, I prevent them from picking on people perhaps less well equipped to engage. That's providing a valuable service.

If I had been at the airport the same day as LeeAnne's mother, perhaps the TSA thugs would have been preoccupied with me and left her mother alone. Who knows? I can dream, right?

Bruce

Nuts. Much like everyone at your agency who believes ID checking and genital groping is important to the security of the aircraft.

I think this has less to do with wanting to find the person checking your passport and more to do with the person doing something which in no way enhances aviation security. I doubt anyone here looks to get into a fight with Airline personnel or Customs and Border Protection, who, at various points during the process, have a legitimate reason to check a person's ID/Passport.

Any aviation security should be centered around WHAT makes it into the secure area and not WHO.

Lets face it people, if a known terrorist makes it to the TSA check point, the the national security apparatus has failed on a lot of levels. OTOH, if OBL himself were to walk through a check point, he should be fine to fly as long as he's been screened properly (ignoring for the fact that that is unlikely - this is just an attempt to reinforce a point).

I've made that same point many times, including to TSA staff. I would be unafraid to sit next to OBL himself on a plane if I knew that he was not carrying any weapons, explosives or incendiaries (WEI). In that case, he would be just another tall old man, not someone to fear.

Bruce

I've been making this point for many years, and I'm sure a number of us have employed what I like to call the strategic hissy fit in order to allow a colleague or loved one to get whatever they need to take through the checkpoint without any additional scrutiny. Two BDSchobels or PhlyingRPh's in full form, one behind the other at the same WTMD could pretty much cause a complete meltdown. (usually under a laptop in a grey tray works the best). Wait a minute, I'm obviously full of you know what. All they have to do is pull a "Freeze" on everybody and they are back in control.

Hello VelvetJones, you are obviously brand new to Flyertalk, so I just wanted to extend a very warm welcome to you.