RunsWithScissors

Why don't they just look at the tape? After all, there are plenty of cameras around.

And are of supposed high-quality.

goalie

A good point but good forensic analysis of the tape would/should find the edits and then what says the TSA....

chollie

Nothing.

This is the same airport that was missing part of the Stacy Amato tape. They don't 'edit', they hack and delete and there is no accountability.

There should have been an investigation into the missing part of the Stacy Amato tape. Unless it was clearly proven to be a fantastically unlikely mechanical breakdown, someone should be fired and prosecuted for tampering with the records.

iowakatie1981

Personally, I think the "inconsistencies" are more about what happens when you get the woman telling the story, the husband telling the story (who probably heard about it from her on the phone right after it happened, and then again when she got home, and has since read media reports of varying degrees of accuracy), and everybody from the local paper to MSNBC telling the story, and the TSA telling their story. Sooner or later, somebody's going to misspeak or mis-understand. It's not hard for me to see how "one half-full vial" can become "one and half vials", etc...

(Also, how in the world are gel ice packs supposed to stay "completely solid" for any length of time? I've only seen one of those get completely solid once, and it was frozen at a very cold temperature for a very long time. They're meant to stay gel-ly, but I guess if you were committed to the cause, you could make it totally solid. But then, you could live next door to the flipping airport, and by the time you took it out of the freezer, put your shoes on, walked over, checked in at the counter, and got to the checkpoint, it wouldn't be completely solid anymore. Good grief.)

I did, though, enjoy the portion of the TSA response that reads "we asked all our workers and nobody touched her insulin."

That's like parents coming home from an evening out to find the living room lamp broken. "We asked all the kids and none of them broke it." Oh, well, okay then.

Caradoc

No, Stacey Armato's incident was at PHX, and this woman's insulin went missing while running the TSA gauntlet at DEN on her way to PHX.

It just shows that the problem of "missing tapes" is more widespread than "just one bad apple."

More like the entire bushel.

chollie

Oops, you're right.

oldpenny16

When I believed that the TSA was taking ice packs, I ordered a box of 36 of them so that I could keep some frozen and at least be able to get to the airport before loosing the ice pack.

18 months out I still have 33 of the ice packs. One leaked and the other 2 just got lost in travel, not from any action by the TSA.

I've started using a FRIO cold pack which is not an ice pack and works just fine with the TSA various folks.

I've never had an experience with the TSA people taking ice packs either fully or only partly frozen.

Boggie Dog

But TSA is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.
Forrest Gump

SATTSO

Oldpenny16 should know better; comments that claim to have had good/decent interactions with TSA on this site are ignored.

SFOSpiff

The reason such comments have less impact, for me anyway, is that I don't see any particular need to praise the accomplishments of someone who's doing what they're expected to do. For example, I could post (and have posted) about how I had a reasonable experience opting-out at LAX. The process was fast, I had no trouble keeping my things in sight, and the TSO doing the patdown was courteous (and almost embarrassed) about the process. This is the bare minimum I expect from the TSA. Congratulating them for not yelling at me seems just not right.

People usually don't heap praise on their doctors for giving a painless prostate exam, either. That's the minimum they have the right to expect in that situation, too.

chollie

I've seen both positive and negative experiences posted here.

I started getting very conscientious about feedback a few years ago. Every where - planes, shops, cable installer - everywhere.

I don't submit feedback for basic competent job performance. That's what someone is paid for. I do submit feedback for job performance above and beyond what's called for - in a positive or negative direction.

I also posted here about someone who performed the only ungrudging, competent and professional grope I've had. I wasted almost 25 minutes trying to get a feedback form. I ended up leaving the checkpoint to make my flight, unable to provide positive feedback that was well deserved.

Doesn't matter what the subject matter or forum is, most folks come here to talk about things that lean in a positive or negative direction. (ie, folks don't talk about every wait at customs, only the super-fast or total chaos scenes). That seems to be true of most forums I visit.

I don't cherry-pick my experiences. Just report what I experience.

I must say, I do not understand why some TSO posters (real or alleged) take it personally. I have worked in a very badly run organization with very poor morale. The organization had a terrible reputation when I came into (deservedly so). VERY bad management and some poor people in highly visible positions.

Until I was able to transfer out, I spent plenty of time hearing about how bad my organization was. Well, it was true. However, there were good people, I was one of them, and when someone would comment about my organization and how bad it was, I rolled my eyes and admitted it. Their problem wasn't with me or with anything in my control. If someone told me my boss was a fool or a particular loser co-worker was a jerk, it was generally true, and trying to defend the indefensible would only have made me look like a fool.

I'd be quite happy if one of our resident TSOs (real or alleged) could point to posts here or on the BLOG that have actually addressed specific pax issues with a view towards trying to improve the pax experience.

There have been plenty of pax suggestions for specific improvements, some of which would certainly benefit TSOs as well, but they are always immediately shot down.

SATTSO

I agree. People should simply do their job without expecting praise.

However, I am talking about the attitude members here display regarding other members who post about positive experiences while dealing with TSA. Such positive encounters are generally dismissed. Further, if someone claims that all they have is positive encounters, they are often accused of working for TSA or some such thing.

In other words, this site is not so much about a general discussion about security (TSA), more than a TSA "bash" site. I have observed a lot of effort put into silencing or minimizing positive comments from the traveling public. And at the same time, many members on this site claim to support the free flow exchange of ideas and thoughts. There is NO proof for that based upon the majority of exchanges on this site. You may disagree, but I doubt you can prove otherwise.

Caradoc

When you were working for the bad organization, you probably knew you could quit any time it got too bad for you.

TSA clerks have nowhere else to go if they're fired.

That's why they're unstoppable in their attempts at defending the only job for which they're qualified.

Either that, or they really enjoy the job and can't admit it to anyone - including themselves.

OldGoat

There are multiple ways to explain your observation. The best two are:

In terms of risk: if the frequency of a bad event is low, but the impact is extreme, and you have to take the risk (e.g. fly commercial), then the only answer is to try and change the rules. That's what the negative posters are trying to do.

In terms of liberties: If a government in a free society is acting to take away freedoms, the best responses are information sharing, opinion forming, lawful resistance, and political action. This board is a part of the information sharing.

SATTSO, it's really that simple.

4nsicdoc

Liberty is inimical to the continued existence of the TSA. Therefore we may not have any. Right, SAT?