LAX WBI experience
 

I had a recent experience in LAX that was at best surreal. Security lines at LAX are longer than I am used to and I was tired so I forgot about the WBI roulette. I get to almost the front of the screening line, behind a confused non-English speaking family, and am beckoned to a clearance line by TSO, I am then informed I had been "randomly selected" for WBI screening.

I declined and requested the pat down. TSO tells me that it will be much more invasive and I explain my preference. While waiting to insert my bags in the xray TSO supervisor (suit, tin badge, no gloves) asks what I am doing waiting. TSO explains that I am waiting for a pat down having declined the WBI. Supervisor then asks the TSO "They can decline that?" The supervisor then turns to me and asks why I did that and I give a brief explanation as I assume it will be lost on this guy. He then replies to me "if I were in charge you would all be sedated, stripped, and locked down before the flight and wake up two minutes before arrival." A this point my jaw was dropped more than I thought it could.

I and them taken through the WTMD, pass and await my male assist. The gut that does the pat down is actually quite personable and tells me he does not care for some of the policies either. My bag gets a detailed search and swab, I get a cursory pat down missing most of my torso and crotch. My boarding pass then gets a second stamp and I am told to hang on to it so I don't get another search at the gate.

I really could not beleive that TSA employed and promoted someone with those views toward security and that they would be allowed to share them with the passengers.

That's not a TSO sup dressed like that. Sups wear the same uniform as TSO's.

Totally, completely unacceptable. Did you get the supervisor's badge information? That sort of retort would have received a nasty response from me along with a written report to the airline, airport and FSD.

That is the type of attitude that needs to be fired. Period.

Which terminal has the WBI? The one I often fly out of doesn't have them.

I would like to know if any of you have further details about WBI at LAX. I am flying Delta international out of there in the next few days, and would like to avoid it. According to our list of airports with WBI, they have them at the Delta T5 checkpoint, but you can avoid it by entering at T6. Is this still true? Do they let you enter at T6 with a boarding pass from a flight from T5?

My hope against hope is the man was attempting to make a joke.

Even if it was a lame attempt to make a joke, it was wholly inappropriate and something that shouldn't be done by a government employee acting in an official capacity. At the very least, he should be removed from from any position of responsibility in TSA, and evaluated for termination.

I am a bit more forgiving IF someone is attempting a joke and it falls flat. I have made similar comments in a work capacity, most of the customers enjoyed the joke, some did not. Of course when I made my jokes it was obvious by my body language, smile, and slight change in voice that I was joking. Sometimes it still fell flat.

Isn't the checkpoint policy no jokes allowed (by passengers)? If this guy wasn't a supervisor then just who was he?

Are you a government official who has discretionary enforcement authority over your customers? If so, you were wrong to make that kind of joke as well.

And did your joke consist of a personal wish to make your customers' experience worse? The guy was basically saying "you're complaining about the WBI but I want to make airport security even more miserable." Yeah, real funny. :rolleyes:

If I said to my customers "You think this is expensive? If I had my way, we'd charge you 10 times more to give you half as much. Ha ha ha.", I'd be looking for a new job an hour later.

The sad thing is, for every TSA person who would say something like that to a passenger, there's probably another 5 or 10 who have the same wish but know better than to express it out loud.

Which job titles would fit that description? This occurred late night (10PM) on a weekday.

I'd ask the TSO how often he travels. It seems that people I've talked to who think TSA should do that have never been on a plane.

Exactly.

If this were a joke, it is no better than the baggie incident. If it is not a joke, then this person has no place being in a position of authority.

You mean like the joke that the screener in Philly played on the young woman passenger about having white powder in her luggage? That one had me ROTFLOL. :rolleyes:

Seriously, I agree with what others have said. If passengers can be threatened with arrest for making jokes at a checkpoint, TSOs shouldn't be making jokes, either. The power relationship is unequal enough as it is.