Section 107

Come on, Chollie, you are being completely unreasonable in your characterization of his (I assume GSOLTSO is a he or a him or if not and he is actually a she then I apologize and consider all the pronouns changed for accuracy) point of view. I don't see any posts where GSOLTSO has denied any of these claimed encounters did not happen. You are over exaggerating and wildly hyperbolizing his statements and sentiments.

In a different way, the President states a mass shooting occurs once a day, and we seem to hear about them once a day, and yet, I haven't seen one in almost 50 years. In a similar perspective - there are 10 to 20 bank robberies every day; I have even seen part of one in progress - but only one - in the past 50 years. How many have you experienced? How many bank robberies have occurred even close to where you live? Probably not very many - mostly likely you don't need even half the fingers on one hand to count them.

Even more to the point - in spite of the many thousands of in-the-line-of-duty firearm discharges each year by LEOs (not to mention the hundreds of persons actually shot by LEOs each year) it still continues to be the case that more than 90% of LEOs never draw their weapon on duty during their entire career let alone fire a round.

When one considers that there are HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of interactions with TSA each year of course outrageous and just plain egregious incidents occur - but that doesn't mean they are the norm for most TSO wingnuts.

(and No, I am not an employee of TSA)

chollie

I have posted before that I think he is one of the 'good apple' TSOs.

That said, if he's worked checkpoints, he's seen thousands more interactions between pax and TSOs than I have as a somewhat frequent traveler. So it beggars belief that he could suggest that he has not personally witnessed any of the behaviors we complain about on here or that others complain about elsewhere. It seems statistically improbable and equally unlikely when talking about a TSO who also is a spotnik/BDO, suggesting that he should be particularly focused on pax and interactions.

I have tried to take him to task for the manner of his posting. We have many lurkers - I was one myself for quite a while before I posted, and some folks never do. When <deleted> posts, as a TSO, about certain things, naive travelers have to keep in mind that <deleted> can only attest to what happens when he is working at a particular checkpoint at GSO. It may or may not reflect what happens in PHX or LGA or ORD - and more often than not, it does not. GSO may be the 'perfect' airport, but unfortunately, I don't fly through there, so I need to filter anything he posts.

He says he would not have confiscated my nitro pills. He does not say that he is certain that no one else at GSO would have confiscated them. He also is at odds with the way the rules (supposedly the same SSI rules) were interpreted by multiple TSOs, LTSOs, STSOs and a suit when my pills were confiscated.

In that respect, it's no different than me reminding someone posting about Delta all the time on the UA forum that what happens on Delta doesn't really give me valuable insight on how things are done on UA.

Boggie Dog

Hundreds of million of interactions each day and TSA doesn't even have one means for a traveler to question a screeners decision that leaves that checkpoint.

First step is to acknowledge a problem.

Edit to add:

GSOLTSO , <deleted> on the TSA Blog, won't even admit that there is no language on the TSA tool when checking to see if medical nitro is permitted. If they can't even write clear information on that then I feel there must be a reason. Apparently it's too difficult to give a clear answer or the item is truly allowed on a case by case basis dependent on the whim of the screener.

chollie

Boggie, please.

Let's not exaggerate here.

Nitro pills, like Buzz Lightyear Grip Toys and heavily frosted cupcakes, are allowed or confiscated at the discretion of the screener, not the whim.

'Whim' sounds so....unprofessional.

Boggie Dog

Well, in the case of TSA I think "whim" is the correct word.

petaluma1

You need to spend some time reading @AskTSA.

petaluma1

[QUOTE=Boggie Dog;26274556]Well, in the case of TSA I think "whim" is the correct word.[/QUOTE

I agree with you.

sethb

But it's the accurate word.

petaluma1

^

Section 107

I don't believe he has said he has never witnessed any of the behaviors, just that he hasn't seen them at the level we describe here in our own little echo chamber.

That's all I am saying.

Of course, it probably isn't much different than a cop saying a beat down was just normal procedure for someone resisting arrest while the rest of us say, "gee, that seemed to be an awfully excessive use of force."

Boggie Dog

It's the other cops who don't say anything when they witness the beat down that is the real problem. That's exactly what happens at TSA Checkpoints when a traveler like Chollie has a problem.

goalie

So is that a knife concealed in your groin area or are you just happy to see me

• 56 firearms were discovered this week in carry-on bags
• Two inert grenades were discovered this week in checked bags at Harlingen (HRL) and Waterloo (ALO)
• A cane sword was detected in a passenger’s carry-on property at Las Vegas LAS)
• A Southwest Florida International (RSW) passenger opted out of advanced imaging technology screening. While being escorted to private screening, the passenger removed a knife from her groin area
• Katana swords were discovered in a carry-on bag at IAH
• A machete was found in a carry-on on bag at JFK.

http://blog.tsa.gov/2016/03/tsa-week...6th-march.html

FliesWay2Much

Anybody else notice the Privacy Act violation in this week's PV? Let's assume that the DHS IG already has a complaint on file.

sethb

Does "inert grenade" still mean "lumpy perfume bottle"?

petaluma1

I give up. Where/what was it?