TSA fun at Fort Lauderdale
Feb 17, 2014, 11:35 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Arizona, USA
Posts: 2,403
TSA fun at Fort Lauderdale
This morning at FLL...
The couple in front of me in the PreCheck line were perhaps in their 80s or 90s. Both were quite hard of hearing.
The smurf screamed at the elderly woman in the wheelchair, "We're checking you for explosives."
"EXPLOSIVES?" exclaimed the elderly woman. "Why on earth would you do that?"
"That's why we're here," explained the smurf. The elderly woman just seemed flummoxed.
The woman at the metal detector was most certainly not happy with me because I put my phone in my carry-on bag before putting on the x-ray belt. Yet she wanted to see my boarding pass, and she was ready with an orange "TSA Cleared" sticker.
First of all, I was given three beeps by the Travel Document inspector five feet away (who scrutinized my driver's license like it was a legal brief.) Second, where did she plan to put this sticker? She seemed frustrated and baffled.
At least I got through quickly and without anything intrusive. They just make fools of themselves so easily. Do they get prizes for incompetence?
What's the secret to acting like a professional agency? Act like it.
The couple in front of me in the PreCheck line were perhaps in their 80s or 90s. Both were quite hard of hearing.
The smurf screamed at the elderly woman in the wheelchair, "We're checking you for explosives."
"EXPLOSIVES?" exclaimed the elderly woman. "Why on earth would you do that?"
"That's why we're here," explained the smurf. The elderly woman just seemed flummoxed.
The woman at the metal detector was most certainly not happy with me because I put my phone in my carry-on bag before putting on the x-ray belt. Yet she wanted to see my boarding pass, and she was ready with an orange "TSA Cleared" sticker.
First of all, I was given three beeps by the Travel Document inspector five feet away (who scrutinized my driver's license like it was a legal brief.) Second, where did she plan to put this sticker? She seemed frustrated and baffled.
At least I got through quickly and without anything intrusive. They just make fools of themselves so easily. Do they get prizes for incompetence?
What's the secret to acting like a professional agency? Act like it.
Feb 18, 2014, 6:13 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
While it is the main act in the theater of the absurd, the thespians involved are simply extras obtained to stand on marks on the stage and recite their lines anew with each new audience that progresses through the checkpoint. It is the same script with the same zero ability for every new group. It requires no skill and really demands that one have no skills.
Think of the "It's A Small World" ride. While you have turned a corner in your little boat to a new scene in the insipid little song, the automatons in the scenes you have just traversed are continuing their incessant little ditty for those following. Eventually the ride ends and you get off. There are many behind you enduring what you have just survived.
It will end when the ride is turned off.
Think of the "It's A Small World" ride. While you have turned a corner in your little boat to a new scene in the insipid little song, the automatons in the scenes you have just traversed are continuing their incessant little ditty for those following. Eventually the ride ends and you get off. There are many behind you enduring what you have just survived.
It will end when the ride is turned off.
Feb 18, 2014, 8:19 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 247
While it is the main act in the theater of the absurd, the thespians involved are simply extras obtained to stand on marks on the stage and recite their lines anew with each new audience that progresses through the checkpoint. It is the same script with the same zero ability for every new group. It requires no skill and really demands that one have no skills.
Think of the "It's A Small World" ride. While you have turned a corner in your little boat to a new scene in the insipid little song, the automatons in the scenes you have just traversed are continuing their incessant little ditty for those following. Eventually the ride ends and you get off. There are many behind you enduring what you have just survived.
It will end when the ride is turned off.
Think of the "It's A Small World" ride. While you have turned a corner in your little boat to a new scene in the insipid little song, the automatons in the scenes you have just traversed are continuing their incessant little ditty for those following. Eventually the ride ends and you get off. There are many behind you enduring what you have just survived.
It will end when the ride is turned off.
Feb 19, 2014, 10:13 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Laguna Niguel, CA
Programs: AA PLT, 1.8mm
Posts: 6,988
…or, we can all just grow up and accept that there are rude people and learn to deal with them (of course, there was nothing in the OP that indicated the TSA was being rude, so your shouting response doesn't exactly make sense.…)
Feb 19, 2014, 11:01 pm
#7
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 574
"Stay away from TSA at FLL. DO NOT FLY TO FLL ANYMORE! TSA at FLL is very extremely rudest. Don't go there. "
Oh great. I wrote an article on here called "Miami Customs Freak Show"
about 7 months ago, about the horrors of a simple connecting flight at the Miami airport. Now you're telling me Ft Lauderdale is just as creepy? Maybe it's time we avoid Florida altogether.
What the hell is going on down there?
Oh great. I wrote an article on here called "Miami Customs Freak Show"
about 7 months ago, about the horrors of a simple connecting flight at the Miami airport. Now you're telling me Ft Lauderdale is just as creepy? Maybe it's time we avoid Florida altogether.
What the hell is going on down there?
Feb 19, 2014, 11:16 pm
#8
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Catania, Sicily/South Jersey (PHL)/Houston, Texas/Red Stick/airborne in-between
Programs: United Global Svs, AA PlatPro, WN RR, AZ/ITA Freccia, Hilton Diam, Bonvoy Gold, Hertz Prez, IHG
Posts: 3,548
"Stay away from TSA at FLL. DO NOT FLY TO FLL ANYMORE! TSA at FLL is very extremely rudest. Don't go there. "
Oh great. I wrote an article on here called "Miami Customs Freak Show"
about 7 months ago, about the horrors of a simple connecting flight at the Miami airport. Now you're telling me Ft Lauderdale is just as creepy? Maybe it's time we avoid Florida altogether.
What the hell is going on down there?
Oh great. I wrote an article on here called "Miami Customs Freak Show"
about 7 months ago, about the horrors of a simple connecting flight at the Miami airport. Now you're telling me Ft Lauderdale is just as creepy? Maybe it's time we avoid Florida altogether.
What the hell is going on down there?
http://mashable.com/2013/02/11/twitter-florida-man/
a sample:
http://floridamanandwoman.tumblr.com/
Feb 22, 2014, 5:15 pm
#10
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Seattle WA, USA
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott LT Plat, AS Lounge
Posts: 3,478
I went through Precheck at FLL a couple of weeks ago and didn't encounter any rude TSA folk. The only unusual thing was that they asked to see my BP twice -- once as I entered the line and once again after my BP had already been marked up and I was ready to put my stuff on the belt. (Sounded like someone else here ran into that as well.) I usually still have my paper BP in hand at that point anyway so it wasn't a problem to show them one more time. I can understand how it would slow things down if I'd already put the BP away.
I was just happy that Precheck was available. The regular line was really long and there was only one person ahead of me in the Precheck line waiting to go through. At SEA they probably would have been funneling a bunch of people from the regular line into the Precheck line at that point so I appreciated that they weren't doing that at FLL when I was there. Who knows what happens at other times...
I was just happy that Precheck was available. The regular line was really long and there was only one person ahead of me in the Precheck line waiting to go through. At SEA they probably would have been funneling a bunch of people from the regular line into the Precheck line at that point so I appreciated that they weren't doing that at FLL when I was there. Who knows what happens at other times...
Last edited by Westcoaster; Feb 23, 2014 at 6:11 pm Reason: typo
Feb 23, 2014, 5:25 pm
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: AA Gold AAdvantage Elite, Rapids Reward
Posts: 38,335
I understand that. TSA is very bad. It could be worse. Those passengers is very uncomfortable with TSA. They didn't like it at all. Please keep avoid flying to FLL. Why I didn't fly to FLL for a long time. No Florida trip at this time. I couldn't go. It was too extremely expensive.
Feb 23, 2014, 5:45 pm
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: AA Gold AAdvantage Elite, Rapids Reward
Posts: 38,335
Feb 23, 2014, 9:32 pm
#14
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NYS
Programs: Days of Our Lives, General Hospital
Posts: 1,495
Consistent inconsistency: I left from FLL two days later and had precheck. I was using a mobile boarding pass and held onto my phone as I was placing stuff on the x-ray belt. A helpful smurf told me that I could put my phone and ID in one of the carry-on bags if I wanted to.
The woman at the metal detector was most certainly not happy with me because I put my phone in my carry-on bag before putting on the x-ray belt. Yet she wanted to see my boarding pass, and she was ready with an orange "TSA Cleared" sticker.
First of all, I was given three beeps by the Travel Document inspector five feet away (who scrutinized my driver's license like it was a legal brief.) Second, where did she plan to put this sticker? She seemed frustrated and baffled.
The woman at the metal detector was most certainly not happy with me because I put my phone in my carry-on bag before putting on the x-ray belt. Yet she wanted to see my boarding pass, and she was ready with an orange "TSA Cleared" sticker.
First of all, I was given three beeps by the Travel Document inspector five feet away (who scrutinized my driver's license like it was a legal brief.) Second, where did she plan to put this sticker? She seemed frustrated and baffled.