^^^

^

Ah, no. A large dose of bitter hatred of FT criticism of the TSA is often a way to drive a thread that gives the TSA its due in relevant ways.

Sorry -- We have no choice other than to assume that we are being "checked out" by SPOTNiks using the "casual conversation" technique. You have all the power and authority and the only responses from us are to not respond to your humor-based interrogation techniques, to flip you off while assuming the surrender pose in the <deleted by moderator>, or to make you change and test gloves when groping us.

^^^^

Granted I could be completely wrong, but I was under the impression that SPOT was being greatly reduced/phased out.

Regardless, I could care less if they want to SPOT me or not, I am going to be myself and they (SPOT or any other TSA Employee) can like or lump it as far as I am concerned.

A while back I had a SPOT attempt to converse with me in the terminal and I was honest that I had complied with all rules and cleared the checkpoint and now I was going to get a drink in the lounge, if he would like to converse any further I said he was more than welcome to sit with me in the lounge and have a drink but that he would have to cover his own admission. I added, I am a gregarious person by nature and wouldn't mind the company.

Oddly enough, never saw him again. ^^

My Wife till this very day is mortified that I did that, she always asks what if he decided to follow you into the lounge and I always respond we could have had an extensional conversation, probably would have been interesting, plus I never miss an excuse to hear myself speak. ;)

You may have no problem with Spot today.

But how about on the day that some TSA BDO decides your actions, look, or some other unknown and unscientific observation makes you suspect of some unknown something that can interrupt your travel and you have absolutely no defense since TSA's BDO/Spot program has been proven to be flawed?

Reducing TSA's BDO program is not the right solution, shutting it down and removing those employees, as excess, from the public payroll is the only correct answer.

You are welcome to assume what you wish, it will have no impact upon my work ethic or professionalism in the least. I will continue to have a sense of humor, be polite and professional at work in all things. As for flipping off an inanimate object, while being screened, more power to you, I am quite certain that it will be suitably offended.

Professionals should not be forcing a captive audience to respond to their personal chat for fear of retaliation.

As a TSO, you know nothing about me and my state of mind when I approach your checkpoint. You do not know if your 'witticism' strikes a painful nerve, nor do you know whether or not I am flying because of a family tragedy and in no mood to play along with you. I should not be forced to play along with you because I want to make my flight.

For similar reasons, I would never dare initiate a light-hearted conversation with a TSO. If I pick the wrong TSO and inadvertently give offense, I could be in big trouble.

No one should ever have their right to travel challenged because they wish not to engage in conversation with a government employee unless that person is a law enforcement officer engaged in a lawful interview.

TSA's BDO program and the employees engaged in that program offer nothing of value to either the public or to TSA.

As I recall, you're a SPOTNik, correct? I'm not surprised at all that you turned it around to make yourself believe I was flipping off an "inanimate object" instead of the clerks operating it.

Tangentially:
I get that, I truly do, I just take the approach of it is what it is, I am powerless to do much about it and while I can and do complain, I also understand that I am just some dude and the people who have the power to make the needed changes could give a hoot about what I think.

Understanding that I am powerless leaves me as I see it one choice, do what I want which makes me happy. As any potential negative consequences are going to happen pretty much no matter what I do, so when and if anything negative happens I will deal with it then.

Said another way, I can worry about it today or down the road if need be.
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I can say this much I know at least one TSA Employee who is a nice guy and he happens to be there just to collect a pay check. A Paramedic I see in the hospital all the time works Part-Time as a TSA Screener to make some extra money to help pay for his upcoming wedding. He and I have often talked about his screening job and he basically says that it is a job like any other, he tries to do it as best he can but he admits that the overarching TSA makes it difficult and sometimes seemingly inane.

He has said a few times that they are trained on policy and procedure, (e.g. how to screen something) but not the whys and wherefores which he feels causes many of the problems we all talk about. He said if a reason is given for something it is so generic as to not really explain anything at all, which leaves room for the TSA employee to make up their own reason for what they are doing and many times he feels leads to the Super Cop Syndrome as if you feel you are doing something Super Important it becomes less of a job and more of a heroic act. He takes the attitude of I do it because I am told to do it, thinking is not required, though he openly admits a lot of what he does seems silly or useless.

A few times TSA colleagues of his have said oh we do this for X reason, mind you not a reason that they were officially given, but a reason that the individual TSA employee's brain came up with to explain why they are doing X as they were never given any specific reason other than most times what they are told which is for the safety of aviation. He said, in many cases he is sure that the "invented" reason is more Tom Clancy than the actual reason why they are doing X, but that without an official explanation people's minds run wild. Following along, if you have "invented" a more Tom Clancy reason that could be understood to be seemingly more important than why any given task is actually assigned, than that person could easily believe that they are next great savior of the USA and thus take on Super Trooper.

If a more specific reason is provided for why TSA does one thing or another, he has said that the specific reason is made public rather than just internally because TSA is just as suspect of its front line people as it is of the general public at large.

My take, people are people and be it TSA or any other employer it is about how management handles its people and the tone they set, if the tone is one of mistrust and disrespect, than the Front Line will portray that, if the tone is trust and respect than the Front Line will echo that.

kmersh, I don't disagree with your overall assessment of TSA.

The problem is that travelers have no recourse, no one to turn to, no way to know what is right or wrong, when at a TSA checkpoint.

Travelers have a right to know what is or may be done to them and in what manner that action might take. Travelers also have a right to redress wrongs against them but with TSA there is no one immediately available to turn to, especially someone not directly connected to TSA employees at the checkpoint.

This is something that I've been saying for years: it all comes down from the top. Pistole was an arrogant SOB who defied Congress and even lied to Congress. Would you expect better behavior from his underlings?

Hopefully, Neffenger isn't as arrogant as Pistole was and a "kinder, gentler" TSA will emerge, but I don't hold out too much hope.

Again, I completely agree, but the same could be said for any large bureaucracy. I am going in circles with the cable company and beyond going to the local telco which is not any better, I am stuck dealing with my cable company with very little recourse.

I am by no means comparing the levels of bad, obviously TSA can effect my life more than the cable companies billing department, but it is similar in the lack of recourse.

I am a huge proponent of Costco because the customer can make their voice heard, I once had an issue with Costco that the local warehouse was unwilling to fix (not the norm for Costco where the moto is find a way to say yes), so I emailed their CEO and most avid spokesperson Jim Sinegal and he got back to me personally and made it right and to this day I am still impressed by that, but Costco is special in that they treat everyone, be it employees and customers as they matter, they are not simply a means to an end.

TSA is not unlike many other large bureaucracies, nobody matters and nobody is empowered with whom the average user (passenger in the TSA's case) can contact.

Government Organs are notoriously slow and hard to change, but one thing is for sure it starts at the top. You can pretty much substitute any Government Organ in place of TSA and the same thing could be said, the average person has little to no recourse and little to no place to turn for help and the few outlets for help are pretty much useless.

In a greater picture that sort of sums up life (at least in the USA) in 2015, the average person just does mean all that much.