cottonmather0

Thinking back to opt-out day last Thanksgiving, did it fizzle out because people didn't participate or because people just didn't know about it?

I ask this question because most people I know who go through the scanners - and it's kinda sorta verified by just watching people in the security line for a few minutes - go through them because they either A.) don't know they can opt out or B.) don't know about the dangers. Most travelers are infrequent travelers and TSA is counting on the masses to just roll over for this whole system to work.

My question is, what if people stood outside checkpoints handing out literature and encouraging people to opt-out just before they got in line? Has this been tried? Was this part of Opt-out Day? I think all of us on this board have had experiences where we influenced someone else in line to opt-out when we did. Why can't we try that on a larger and more deliberate scale?

Certainly neither the airports nor TSA would like it, for different reasons, but it seems to me that it would be a very effective way to educate people about the whole process, when the scanners are imminent and just a few minutes away and not in some theoretical place "tomorrow at the airport." And if it's the non-sterile area of a publicly owned airport, what would be the consequences? You'd think that's an easy First Amendment question to answer if the airport or TSA tried to stop you from doing it and you didn't pitch a tent in the airport or litter or give them some other attempt to stop you not related to exercising your free speech.

Am I missing something from this idea? I travel a lot and have never seen this attempted, but I didn't travel last Thanksgiving, so maybe someone did try it and I missed this part of opt-out day.

Comments?

gj83

I try talking about it with people and unfortunately most people just don't care or think it's actually a good idea.

I miss "innocent until proven guilty"

RedSnapper

I recall some very sporadic airport picketing on NOOD last year, but nothing this year. It can be done; pilots and flight attendants picket airports all of the time to get their message out. The only difference between them and the passengers is organization. They are organized; we are not. This seems to have a lot to do with why they were quickly exempted from the TSA's new abuses, and the rest were left to suck it up.

If we could show up en-mass at even one airport on one day with an organized, coherent message, I think that message would be heard. But I can't say for sure, since it has never been tried.

CelticPax

I skimmed a bit, but another main reason the opt-out day "didn't work" was that they knew it was coming and decided to rope off most of the machines on that day, so there was no chance to opt-out.

As for handing out literature, etc., handing out a leaflet to a fellow passenger or two in line might be all right, but airports and their jursidictions often have rules about these displays.

There have been some reports on here that the airport will designate the free speech zone to be some out-of-the-way place with little foot traffic and almost certainly no where near the checkpoint. I even recall rules about staying behind the table you're working when talking or handing out pamphlets.

If you search on here and YouTube there have been some fairly good protests on the sidewalk drop-off at some airports. I've certainly been tempted by the idea, and may still do so in the future. My local airport isn't particularly well suited for a sidewalk protest as there's no main drop-off point. Plus, I'll shamefully admit, I'm worried of ending up on some list - wondering if there are better, more anonymous ways I can help, like campaigning for local independent, green, or libertarian candidates.

SATTSO

Last year when I suggested Opt-Out Day was a failure, people on this site insist that it was not a failure. Odd.

People did hand out, or try to hand out, pamphlets. Or at least at my airport. But they found passengers to be less than receptive. I can honestly tell you (though most here will decide not to believe me, I suspect) that most passengers when talking to me and other TSOs had negative comments to say about the protesters. But you should see there is some truth to this...as you and many on this site have noted that very few opt-out of AIT screening. Even if they do not like the use of AIT, most passengers have accepted it (this says nothing about my opinion of the use of AIT).

You may believe and opt-out day is a just cause, and worth doing (as do the Occupy Protesters), but how will the public perceive you? Will you disrupt their travel plans? Cause them to miss their flights? Or cause them to arrive early at the airports?

I specifically had people tell me they arrived HOURS early because they were afraid of missing their flights on Opt-Out Day. And these people were not mad at TSA. They were mad at the protesters.

SATTSO

This is funny. I remember seeing someone on this site post that at SAT we had them roped off, too.

Wimpie

OPT-OUT day was successful in the fact that it made national news and put the matter in the minds of many people who otherwise would not of heard about NOS's. Not bad for the efforts of 1-2 individuals.

It has reached the stage now where TSA has said that they will not deploy any more NOS's without ATD, and there is a growing resistance to the X-Ray Rapiscan units, which I expect will be pulled out and put along side the puffers in the land fill.

MMW with ATD is the ONLY ACCEPTABLE solution, even if they don't work worth a damn, cost a fortune, and cause backups so long that they shunt people through the WTMD's to clear the congestion. I predicted this scenario more than 18 months ago, here on FT, when I discovered that AMS was using MMW with ATD.

TSA will never procure enough machines to screen every passenger. They have already cut the budget for new deployments, and I expect it to be cut even further.

RedSnapper

I'm sure it's occurred to you that we are all conditioned to suck up to those in charge in order to avoid retaliation. Yes, sir, whatever you say...you look lovely in that blue shirt...the TSA is the best thing since sliced bread....those protesters need to shut up and thank you more...what else do I have to say to keep you from feeling me up?

We all know this game is played at the airport. We all know who makes us arrive early, who has the power to make us miss our flights, who will disrupt our travel plans. And it isn't "the protesters".

msimons

I always opt out, and actually it has gotten quicker over time.
Now they are quick to skip the verbage and get it done.

cardiomd

+1. I just stand silent and now am offered opt-out within 3 seconds. I don't have to even say "opt-out" any more. They are more used to the isolated protester. The screeners still think they are doing legitimate work though.

WillCAD

I hate to admit it, but I agree - National Opt-Out Day was a dismal failure. And I pretty much figured it would be from the beginning, because people were A) had too much money/time/vital family commitments riding on their flights to risk missing it, B) hadn't heard of the protest, C) thought the protest was the act of a wacko fringe group, D) "9/11! 9/11! 9/11! People out there are TRYING TO KILL US! ANYTHING TO KEEP US SAFE!"

However, who arrived hours early just because of the protests? Exactly how many "people" told you that, SAT? Could it have been maybe just one person, one couple, one family? Or did multiple traveling parties tell you that?

I can believe that a few people would be nervous about the protest causing delays, but the majority of the people who arrived hours early did so because, ahem, National Opt-Out Day was Wednesday, Nov 24 - the day before Thanksgiving, the heaviest air travel day of the year in the US, when the word "delays" is considered a laughable understatement.

I don't expect there to ever be widespread protests of draconian, un-Constitutional airport security measures which violate the civil rights of millions of people per year. But the more TSA deploys those measures to buses, trains, and most especially mass transit modes, the more people will wake up to their abusive nature and protest against them.

Getting into subways will sign TSA's death warrant.

InkUnderNails

I flew last year on NOOD and was all prepared for long lines and long waits. I had my speeches all planned and was ready to be a good opt out.

I get to the airport and it is one without scanners. They were not just roped off, they were not installed. Jokes on me, sort of. Oh, well.

Just as I was thinking that I had 2.5 hours to kill in a mostly empty airport, life became exciting again. The TDC holding my NEXUS said "Can I see a another ID, like a DL? This ID is not a valid ID." Oh, boy. Fun time.

45 minutes later, after the "assistance" of nine different TSA employees plus someone on the other end of a phone to approve the NEXUS and absolutely the most thorough bag check ever, I was through and eating my toasted bagel awaiting my flight, with an hour and a half to spare.

greentips

And therein lies the problem. Really, I think the word on the TSA farce is getting out and is further acknowledged by more mainstream media. But, I agree it is not enough. TSA in particular and DHS in general are not as of yet, enough of a Main Street annoyance to give rise to a real grass roots conscientiousness awakening.


I agree that showing up en masse will require a great degree of coordination, and I think that is unlikely. Frequent flyers are fewer n number and are geographically dispersed which makes it even more difficult as even showing up at a single airport will be "local" news.

We will continue to have sporadic reported abuses and more frequent unreported abuses, after which everyone will be on their best behavior until the next round.

Leaflets passed out will be glanced at and tossed, without understanding the real problem, with only sporadic abuses coming to light in the national news, these abuses being panned by the bosses of abusers as "not reflective of the professionalism of the TSA. . ."

Getting the real story out, including tidbits that Halls noted, suppressed reports of agency reviews are of interest to people, as suppressed reports of government officials make the populace wonder what the government is attempting to hide:

It is this message and the TSA coverup of this message that must become widely disseminated before we wake up to the danger the TSA and its management poses to our founding philosophies that have served us well over the past two centuries.

Personally, I think that frequent flyers can influence the infrequent, but not by pickets and isolated protests, but by informing people of the real dangers such as Halls120 pointed out: government by obfuscation is bad for everyone, including government.

My thoughts on how to do this: An informative one page letter printed and carried by frequent flyers which gives a synopsis of what is really going on, laced with facts such as the existence of the suppressed report left by frequent flyers where they are most likely to be read: Delta Skymagazine, the other carriers in-flight mags/catalogs in the seatbacks. Left on the seats as we depart the airplane at destination, left on chairs in terminals, restaurants and lounges. These people will read simply because they are either traveling or waiting to travel and desire something to do. This technique may be the best way for a well educated, knowledgeable (TSS) group to inform a bright, but less educated traveling public.

If all FF were to print a dozen or so of these "issue briefs" for every leg, leave them in the seatbacks as they get on the plane, and on the seats of the airplane, departure area and around the airport, as they travel, we may be able to educate the traveling public enough so that when they witness or experience a "TSA event" they will recall the issues and a few more may be motivated to bring political pressure to solve the problem.