I'm really sorry to all you people if my presence in the regular line causes you inconvenience. Is it cattle or kettle that's the derogatory term of the day?

The main complaint in this thread is about shutting down the lane at arbitrary times, and then not having any special provisions for the so-called "Trusted Traveler" in the regular lane. People have complained in other threads about letting the so-called "unwashed" into "their" lane, but those people are wrong, and I'm not seeing that attitude in this thread.

The Übermenschen experience should be the experience for everybody, and they're still pushing people into the Übermenschen lane. But when they shut down the Übermenschen lane at arbitrary times, they're shutting down a line, increasing congestion for you, and if they would do the sticker thing like they do in many airports, that decreases congestion for you because the "Übermenschen" go through quicker.

It's Kettle, and frequent flyers who have their heads on straight know what they mean when they say "Kettle." I said it in a thread in the Delta forum. An "elite" is somebody who flies a lot, typically because he has to. A "Kettle" flies when he feels like it. An "elite" is someone who obsesses over getting Economy Comfort so he can drink alcohol out of a plastic cup on the way to Des Moines. A "Kettle" drinks in a bar in Rio.

Podunk Field is small enough they've only got one TSA line, and, save for at the request of GAs trying to get a flight out full and on time, there's generally no line jumping regardless of elite or pre-check status.

On the bright side, it's exceptionally rare to have to wait in line more than 10 minutes, and 5 is more common.

There are a few advantages to Podunk Field despite the limited non-stop services and high ticket prices.

If you're suggesting that people berating frontline staff about things they have no control over will somehow influence actual decision makers, I tend to disagree.

You are correct that it will impact how they act toward you in the future, though I suspect not in the direction you desire.

If he's there shouting 'do you know who I am?' I would think he needed to see a doctor. The man clearly wasn't well, didn't even know his name! ;)

I strongly agree with this. I am hardly one to back down, but it's important to be civil while you're at it. Make a record that will be crushing for them when it goes to court.

They do, eventually, obey court orders. :D

Don't expect anything good to come out of the informal process; they don't give a damn what people think. Making the job suck more will only lead to more abuse by them as they lash out to make people to respect their authoritah, and will make you look bad.

And even for popular opinion, I can tell you from experience: people will grab onto anything they possibly can to cast you as being rude, not credible, whiny, etc. and therefore deserving of abuse.

A cattle shoot is what TSA pretends they are preventing. I think the word you're looking for is chute. :p

I know, they're just following orders, right?

Yes my bad for not proofreading, although there is a certain poetry to saying it that way.

That's too simplistic. I don't like TSA but I know that there are some good people in the organization. I try to be cordial with them. The only time I got snippy was a few years ago when it was very early in the morning and I forgot to take out my freedom baggie.

I was polite with them today when they found the water bottle I forgot in my bag. I was also polite with them last week when they didn't find the water bottle I forgot in my bag. :p

Had a guy behind me in line INSIST that SENTRY should get him access to the priority security line.

... At the Canada-US checkpoint...

Wrong border for SENTRI. :D

No, it's more simple than that. They are people, just like you and me.

And it's also more complex. Outside of the movies, how often do you really think someone yelling at a mail clerk has changed the decisions being made in the C-suite? Conversely, how often do you think that has perhaps resulted in someone's mail being "lost" the next time it is sorted?