Are you saying they are not wearing TSA's badge or something to identify them as official (forgive my naive question, I am not used to US airport), and they actually expect ANYONE to answer their question? Are they just some unknown person trying to chat with you? And people actually speak with them?

I suddenly realize why people are answering "none of your business" when asked "where are you travelling to?"... Here people inquiring about other people being distressed, are religious nutjobs trying to recruit...

Or members of the Communist Party trying to justify their useless existence...

That's my understanding. However, even if they were in their TSA uniform, I wouldn't be inclined to talk with them.

I've never had any dealings with TSA and I don't intend to, but those who try to 'psyop' them, why do want to do it? For a bit of amusement, challenge, etc? It's not meant to be nasty, it's a genuine question because I'm curious as to why people want to put effort into doing so.

I have been through airport security so many times and had my share of irritating experiences, but I honestly couldn't be arsed trying to play psychology with security people. When I go through airport security, all I have in mind is to get through as quickly as possible so that I can plonk myself down in a comfortable* airline lounge, because my travel patterns are normally such that I only ever get to the airport pretty tired.

Also asking out of curiosity, compared to what you encounter overseas, are TSA guys a lot worse? (I do get the impression that they are, based on what I have read on this forum, but no-one really compared them to airport security people abroad, so I don't really know.)

*comfortable is not always guaranteed - often over-crowded and nowhere to sit, but that's beside the point.

Almost every other country's airport security is less disgusting than the US "security" joke provided by the TSA.

Rarely do I see the Shoe Carnival. Most security employees couldn't care less about the BP/ID - there's no stupid scrutiny like the Workfare recipients do here. Many nations have been forced to adopt the asinine liquid idiocy, but many do not retain this nonsense unless one is traveling to the few Cuckoo Countries where it's all Liquid Stupidity all the time. And there's no useless Workfare recipients playing "spot" games.

Airport "security" in the US just plain sucks eggs. And that's being very, very polite.

Except in England, Germany, Korea, Japan, France, etc., etc.

Pretty much same with liquids.

Shoes off ? Don't think so, except some flights to the US.

I've not made internal flights in those countries, so I'll bow to your knowledge there. I do know flying to the US you do, and it's not TSA checking. Is that a US mandate, then? We demand they check liquids if they fly to the US?

Wrong. Having traveled from all of those countries in the last few months, with the exception of France, the only one listed that has a shoe fetish is England, and it's "random".

Unfortunately, they all have liquid lunacy, except for Japan domestic.

We and the UK are pretty much alone on the shoe stupidity.

Flights within other countries (non-EU) are not subject to the liquid idiocy that I have seen.

The only reason the other countries harass passengers in the manner that they do on flights to US/UK is because the US has bullied them into doing so. :mad:

not always ... liquid restrictions very similar (if not the same) to the US are enforced in Brazil (for example) no matter where you are flying.

Right in my experience. The shoe carnival had been in place during some time at the UK's request, but was dropped anywhere else. Though some shoes still can set the alarm off.

Care to expand? The regulation say you have to keep your liquid in a kip-compliant bag. Within France, I had a problem with a large bottle of aerosol I had to check, but I usually have my kippie bag inside the rest of my carry-on and they don't appear to care. So it might be more relaxed, but there is liquid idiocy...

They also enforced recently laptop out-the-bag harassment, even though it was deemed not useful by the EU authorities (there was some measure of hope they would drop it, but no news ever since).

On the other hand, there are some airports that pat everyone, even if you don't alarm the detector. But I think it's pretty specific to some airport (mostly a reason for me to take the high speed train to get on a plane instead of flying out of my home airport).

One thing I have never witnessed is the kind of attitude people here atttribute to TSA employees.

Indeed harassment is more strict when flying to the US.

New Zealand, for example, does not have liquid idiocy on flights within NZ, but does on flights to the Land of Paranoid Idiots. :(

I flew domestic in Brazil last week, the regulation were printed everywhere: restriction on liquid for international travel, restriction on explosive and pointy object for domestic travel.

In fact, I found the regulation spelled on Gol's website :

OK, I thought you were speaking about the EU area. I'd have loved to know one of the EU countries was not following the liquid ban...

I took my shoes off in England, Japan, Korea, France and Germany, although I was flying to the US each time.

Bullied how? I can't imagine they let the US get away with telling them how to run security in their own country.

And yet they do, for flights to the US. The "security" harassment technically takes place in the departing country.

Seeing my seething look of contempt in one country at a gate harassment, I was told "your country makes us do this". :td: :td:

USA, the bullies with asinine "security" directives. Screw the TSA. :td:

No, but nothing forces them to accept US-bound aircraft and not divert them to Bangor because they were not screened enough to enter US airspace safely.

Except for a short time following the apparition of the shoe craze, I was only required to take off my shoes when flying to the US. Even in airport that practice systematic groping. :mad:

Same is true for Brazil, Argentina (where I asked about liquid restriction to get back to Europe, and was told I could take liquid, "only the US makes us check for liquids", so it's widely believed...).

I have different experience with frequent travel through/to Brazil. I find that they fairly strictly enforce US-like liquids policies even when flying to countries other than the US.

I quoted the rules provided by airline: liquid for international, and national that use the intl departure area, are dangerous. Liquids for domestic travel are not dangerous and could be carried on.

It's not the proof that the US is involved into the appareance of this ban, though. Was your experience of domestic BR flight long ago? The rules might have changed recently for all I know.

I haven't taken a purely domestic Brazil flight in quite some time so I shouldnt comment on that. I fly GRU to many different countries iternationally (North American, European, South American) and even inside Brazil (but from the international terminal) and I almost always run into the liquid ban.

I thought you were saying in your last post that you were told in Brazil that liquids were only a problem if flying to the US ie: " ...... maybe I misunderstood you?

That is consistent with my experience.

[quote]

No, it was in Argentina that I was told about US involvement in it. I spoke of Brazil because they exempt pure domestic travel from the liquid ban.

Because I want them to leave me alone.

There is nothing interesting in my briefcase, just a bunch of computer junk I need for work. I don't have any tools, I don't have any hidden lip gloss, I don't have anything of interest. It's annoying as all heck when they dump my bag, and I have to repack it. I resent it on principle.

I try to look like what they like and ignore -- former military, straight arrow, by the books, etc.-- and not look so much like what they want to harass (big ol' pinko dyke).

After giving it some thought, I think it all comes down to this:

I am so hostile to the concept of BDOs because I don't believe it will work. I don't think that someone with 4 days training is going to detect lurking terrorists. I do think that, just like other aspects of TSA's security theater, this one is going to cause a lot of problems for a lot of innocent travelers, without the slightest bit of gain.

TSA, do you want to do something that will add to the safety and security of flying? START INSPECTING ALL COMMERCIAL CARGO AND MAIL THAT IS LOADED ON BOARD COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT. START INSPECTING CARGO CONTAINERS THAT COULD HOLD ENTIRE ARMIES OF TERRORISTS AT U.S. PORTS.

Leave the rest of us alone.

Just you just do this out of habit like many people (mostly stupid Americans) do, or were you actually told to do it? I'm just surprised, as I never was. And this was all for US bound flights.

I wonder how many nationalities you could replace "Americans" with in the above post without setting off the FT PC alarms ;)

... aren't you from California? :confused:

Told to. I tried to walk through without doing so.

Did you have to take off your shoes when you were flying intra-European flights too?

Without setting off the WTMD I doubt I have ever been told to remove my shoes when flying in Europe.

Vienna (VIE)
 

I just came back from Europe via Vienna. Shoes stayed on. The only things they were doing was the laptop out and the KHIAI bags. No FRA-style groping and no "interview."

How refreshing (except for the Kippie bag)! ...and, we arrived without being blown up by shampoo or shoes!

LHR plays the asinine shoe games at Flight Connections sometimes.

That's interesting - and bad.

LHR checks shoes for explosives in T3 or at least that's what they say. As long as you know about it you can pass through to the right of this and don't have to take off your shoes.

That is so funny and true I simply had to get it up here again! ^

:)

Is it just me or does some of the TSA-employee commentary re: SPOT and BDO's remind anyone else of those people that volunter for the local volunteer fire department and have $4,350 of emergency lights on their $2,000 truck to use the one time every 6 months that a fire occurs?

What difference does it make where he/she is from in terms of the opinion they're allowed to voice? Is there a[nother] secret clause in the TOS that limits commentary according to your residence or nationality?

How very consistent coming from people who have a such an hysteric problem with the first names of TSAers being mentioned!:p:D

Well FWIW my personal security theartre worked flawlessly this week.

"Oh, no, you don't have to take your dogtags off." Sailed through four airports, no bag checks, no annoying questions, just "thank you for your service."

I will concur with this argument as it relates to LHR.

In January, I passed through the T3 security. After the initial x-ray / mag scan, some were corralled into Heathrow's separated security line which hosts the shoe carnival. It was random and at that point the person doing the herding of sheep has no idea what anyone's destination is.

Also, my LGW-DUB and ORK-AMS routes involved no shoe carnival. I do not recall if anyone was using litre bags for liquid and I simply don't bother with any liquids whatsoever when I travel now. Also previous year's European flights of HHN-KRK, OTP-FRA-DUB, and IST-LTN were likewise relatively pain free as far as security screening goes.

hardly hysterical ... but I do have a problem with identifying specific individual TSA employees for accusation/ridicule.

To answer your two questions ... (1) none ... and (2) not that I'm aware of. I wasn't implying otherwise.

Folks,

Please take the personal issues outside. If you want to ignore someone, the way to do it isn't by calling them out on thread. @:-) Thank you.

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essxjay
TS/S moderator