ScatterX

ABQ has a horrible problem with cues behind the NOS (and gaggles of TSA standing around doing nothing--but that's another story). The line is often 10-20 people deep which prevents people from being able to see their things. When this happens, I wait to push my things into the x-ray until the line is short enough that I'll be through the NOS sometime close to my things coming out of the x-ray. This process usually results in yelling and guilt from the clerks. However, on two occasions in the last month, it's also resulted in obvious retaliation. In both cases, they 'randomly' () pulled my bag out to be searched. The second time was when the barker walked around to point out which bag belonged to the troublemaker (that's me ) rather than the x-ray operator pretending to see something.

The bag searches were fairly normal except for two things. They swiped everything and they did so at the slowest imaginable pace. And when I say everything, I really mean everything. They removed every item from my bag, swiped every pocket. swiped every zipper. Went over every surface, inside and out. Then they picked up every item, visually inspected it, and swiped it. Both times, they took my pens out and swiped each one. They swiped every cable I had from end to end and every surface of everything I had. On one of these two encounters, the lady clerk picked up my laser pointer and stared at it for 10 seconds. She couldn't figure out what it was. When she asked me, I said it was a laser pointer. (Looking back I should have said it was a kaleidoscope and asked if she wanted to view the pretty picture ). She took it apart and swiped the pieces, swiped the batteries, put it back together and swiped it again. She also took the change out of the bottom of my bag and swiped each coin.

To make things worse... on the laser pointer retaliatorython, I had to endure the lady repeating over and over how the x-ray operator saw something strange in my bag and she just had to find it. (Recall that the barker actually pointed out my bag, so I knew this was BS.) I responded "Have fun, I've got tons of time."

So... has this happened to anyone in ABQ or elsewhere? This happened to me twice in ABQ with different people, but not anywhere else. I'm not buying the coincidence excuse for ABQ.

Caradoc

I once watched a TSA employee spend several minutes trying to unscrew a circular polarizer from one of my lenses.

saulblum

Can I ask why there was a need to remove a filter from a lens?

I sure hope the TSO had gloves on.

nachtnebel

sort of like watching Koko the chimp try to say "cup"

InkUnderNails

This happens to me from time to time. I have a very complicated bag of electronics that can take a long time to check.

Here is my strategy:

I get there with plenty of time so I am not rushed nor do I appear rushed.

I tell them, "I have plenty of time, do whatever you need to do."

I then sit down in the floor next to the inspection table and read a paper or work on a crossword.

It seems to drive them crazy that I do not seem to care, and I really do not. I have all of the time in the world. The primary power they have over you is the power to delay you enough to make you uncomfortable that you may miss your flight. Take that away from them and you take away their power.

Global_Hi_Flyer

Retaliation.

It's exactly what they did at Austin when I objected to the "say your name" garbage.

RatherBeOnATrain

"Screening took a backseat to making an example of me." - Dick Hughes of the Statesman Journal.

IMHO, ScatterX, what you experienced is a TSA SOP.

Caradoc

The same TSA employee removed all of the lens caps, front and rear, and poked their finger at the glass on both ends. I had to clean them all again when I got to my destination even with the gloves, since they'd obviously gotten something else on the gloves that was oily.

Fortunately, they missed the 1oz bottle of denatured alcohol I keep in the bag...

WillCAD

Oh, I misunderstood the title of the thread; I thought I was going to see more stories of TSOs swiping stuff out of luggage...

Dianne47

Me, too...

BearX220

It happened to me at MHT last year. I was running late for an early-morning flight and got to the checkpoint as the final boarding call was being issued. the TSOs responded by conducting the slowest possible inspection of everything in my (benign) carry-on. I wrote the story up for this forum.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/check...arassment.html

I swear, the only thing that got me on my way was a scolding from a very forceful, emphatic US gate agent who came up to the checkpoint and rescued me from TSA, God bless her. (I sent her flowers.) I filed a complaint with the Manchester airport director's office, which sent it on to TSA, which wrote me a belligerent response telling me everything was all my fault.

I have not flown out of MHT since that day as I do not court unnecessary contact with abusive / punitive / crazy people.

Exactly -- this has nothing to do with security, everything to do with subjugation.

Mikey likes it

Really?

Caradoc

That's exactly why I avoid all TSA checkpoints.

bdschobel

I do basically the same thing, and it really does drive them crazy. They are trying to make us miserable, and their apparent failure is frustrating. They are just wasting their time to no purpose -- not even the intended inappropriate purpose.

Bruce

Pesky Monkey

It's always good to remind them that the filter is only $200, from there it gets expensive.