For a TSA screener it was about $3.99 to much.

Doesn't a bribe require at least an implication of reciprocity or quid pro quo?

Well, the OP certainly got what (s)he paid for.

So what would have happened to the OP if he left the coins there, kept his mouth shut and walked away? I can't imagine TSA allowing people to just randomly leave personal property laying around.

Happens more than you might think.

Travelers left more than $500,000 at airport checkpoints last year, TSA keeps the change

More like pubic officers these days . . .

For conviction, yes, for detention/hassle/groping the bar is down flush with the floor.

Perfect example of why people that listen to corporate lawyers never get anything done.......

I remember dealing with one regulator who hung around all day and then would not even eat a piece of birthday cake for one of our employees. Dude, either eat the cake or get the heck out of here! It's not a bribe, it's a little thing I like to call...common courtesy.

Common sense has left the building. Bring me a Starbucks and some cake.

Well that was poorly handled by the TSA officer, surely all the officer needed to say was "thank you very much sir, but I'm not allow to keep tips, even small ones, please take the money back" and there would have been no problems. Instead they escalated a situation (which I have noticed is not uncommon for US law officers)

Yeah we have a client like this, we can't do anything lest it looks like a bribe. End of last year, when we invited all our clients out to an xmas lunch, we had to deliberately exclude that client, lest someone somewhere thought someone been invited to join in a party was tantamount to corruption at the highest level.

I think the government deems cash or gifts valued at $50 or more as bribes. Pocket change is a nominal gift, perfectly acceptable.

And who apologized to who for 5 minutes? I wouldn't have apologized.

A bribe for what? The OP was through the checkpoint and was free to go. I can't think of why it would be considered a bribe. A tip, OK, but why would you even consider tipping a TSA person?


DD

You have to put on your TSA "look at me I'm an Officer!" hat to even begin to understand.

But I don't think you want to go there.

Occam or Uhlman or one of those guys has the answer.

Exactly right. I am, frankly, surprised by the number of posters who have pointed out, logically and accurately, but entirely unnecessarily, that what the OP did was not really a bribe. The only thing the OP did wrong, as far as the TSOs are concerned, is to not show sufficient respect for their "authoritah." These TSOs were officious, petty martinets, anxious to flex power they did not have. The threat to call a cop was completely hollow, and any LEO on the seen would have laughed in their faces. No law was broken. More importantly no CFR -- the arbitrary rules that have the force of law (at least until challenged in a court of law) -- was broken. As I said in an earlier post, my response would have been to call their bluff and demand that the people actual authority be called over immediately. It would have been amusing to have seen these clowns grovel and scrape as they tried to avoid their chastisement.

Of all the government agencies, TSA seems to be the one that is coming the closest to pushing us into a police state. Don't accept it. I don't. I've been threatened with the, "Do you want me to call a cop?" bluff on one occasion, and my response was, "Yes, I do. And I'm not moving from this spot until you call one." Needless to say, that put paid to the TSO's posturing AND earned him a reprimand from his supervisor.

It reminds me of the time I was accused of breaking a federal law. I stopped immediately, asked for clarification, and asked them to request a manager, an LEO, and the right to call my lawyer. The TSO looked quite surprised and asked what my problem was. "You are a federal employee that has just accused me of a federal crime. I take that very seriously. I say nothing else until I talk to my lawyer."

Immediate attitude change. "Aw, don't worry about it. I was just kidding."

I registered my complaint with management before I left the area.

which the TSA personel are not.