Had a couple of times through MIA a month ago.First time as usual I got a pat down of legs-I wear a knee guard.But after i was patted down the agent yells out"male security".I wondered what I was in for.Had to have an explosives check on my knee guard.Refrained from asking when the last "knee guard bomber"was.

Second time again the pat down but this time of my chest.Thought it was just going to be a full body pat down but after patting my chest he finishes and yells out to the assembled multitudes-"It's just man boobs".

TSA could learn a lot from the portuguese. When I flew back from Lisbon last week I forgot about the pocket knive in my carry-on bag. Of course it showed up on the x-rays, and when I laughed about my forgetfulness the screeners joined in. Checking it in or having it mailed to me would take so long that I'd miss my flight. The only option was to throw it away (there went my three euro knife, sniff sniff), for which the portuguese security guy and girl apologized to me.

A couple of years ago I flew out of London Gatwick. It was an early morning flight and the night before had been long. Keys in the tray? Check. Coins? Check. Belt? Check. And then the scanner went beepbeepbeep when I walked through with my backpack still on my back, carrying my laptop, phone, and other metal stuff. Of course everyone behind me burst out laughing. No problem. My bag went in the scanner and I passed the metal detector again, this time without a beep. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I had done this in the USA...

TSA could learn a lot from just about anyone.

My thought is just smile at life and move on. We are all in on this together. The whole TSA thing is questionable as to how much it helps our safety. My feeling is we should either go for an Israeli type system, or back off to pre 9/11 levels. All this hell travellers face and not one true terrorist attack has been discovered. But until it finally resolves itself, I still take my hat off to these $12 per hour employees who move us through the lines. They aren't Phd candidates, but they work hard. Everyone of us has a story of some illogical or foolish conduct on their part.

In your case, for example, you could make a stink, write letters, even cost some guy his job or get him disciplined. But why. Laugh and move on. Again, we are all in this together. I always tell the ones that ARE nice, "thanks for doing this job."

Good point. I often think this about the sales people that barge into my office....blowing right by the "no solicitors" sign on the door. What a way to make a living. Thanks for the reminder to "remember to be kind".

To the original poster though....it does get wearing after awhile, especially as we get older. I'm beginning to understand the "crotchety old man/woman" syndrome

Have a great day in spite of it all

Ca77y

Yah, TSA attempts at humor usually fall flat...like the one document checker in OKC who cracked the joke "your name sounds like McVeigh." I mean, wow, how many levels of wrong just happened there?

Dublin airport - beckoned over for a swabbing... The agent says, "Here's a likely suspect!"

We had words. And the supervisor and I had words. I was not amused.

This is why I make a point to no longer fertilize my garden before leaving on travel.

Why? Are you of an ethnic minority?

Nope. Unless beards count.

Simple rule. No joking in security. Not for the PAX and certainly not for the agents of the state.

What would happen to me. If I replied to his attempt at humour 'here's a likely suspect!" with, "nope, not today. I left the bomb at home today!"

I was just unsure of what your complaint was. You make a fair point.

I make the same distinctions at the checkpoint that I do with every other encounter in life.

There are clumsy, inept and clueless people everywhere.

There are people who are distracted for what might be terrible reasons (family member in hospital, etc.) every day.

There are people who are frustrated, beaten down people trying to tough out a thankless job (cold-calling, complaint service, enforcing asinine policies).

Then there are people who are nasty or bullying, people who take out their frustrations on others when and where they can get away with it (parent beating kids, husband beating wife, cop assaulting unresisting suspect) or who frankly enjoy bullying and demeaning others.

There is never an excuse for nastiness or bullying - I don't care how upset you are, how thankless and unrewarding your job is. No excuse. None. People who engage in these types of behaviors have no excuse and deserve nothing but contempt.

Some TSOs (and other people) fall in the former categories; too many TSOs fit the latter description. One rotten TSO, supported by 2-3 fellow TSOs who support his/her behavior by not calling him out on it or complaining, can poison the experience of dozens and dozens of travelers in a single day. I feel both pity and contempt for such people.

Perhaps your advice should also be directed at checkpoint bullies who delight in humiliating a mastectomy survivor or karate-chopping a guy in the groin because they don't like his looks or shouting at an elderly, hearing-impaired vet who can't get his shoes off fast enough - ask them to laugh and move along.

This is a good point, as "elites" maybe we should do something about that. I mean, I can't do much about a document checker who thinks it's funny to compare me as a passenger to a known terrorist because of a vague name similarity. I mean, if we complain, our voices are much louder than that of the average passenger. Right now, there's not really an app for that, except for that civil rights violation one the Sikh's put together. This really isn't a civil rights matter, just a civility matter.

Complain to whom? TSA is not going to be impressed by DYKWIAs (or anyone else apparently); your airline(s) is not going to pressure the TSA, now or at any future time.

Deal with it.

I agree, if they want to be considered an actual security force they should not be joking. If the threat is as real as they would have ppl believe why make light of it? And great point about if you made the joke.^