Herd of belligerent TSOs spotted at ORD T5
Oct 8, 2010, 4:35 pm
#1
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Herd of belligerent TSOs spotted at ORD T5
Sitting at my hotel in Amman ruminating on the latest TSA absurdity I've encountered. Flying out O'Hare-Amman T5 and was subjected to secondary screening, which is par for the course to this region of the world and basically consists of someone rummaging through your carry-ons and groping you.
When I approached the woman to give her my bags, I attempted to place my phone inside the bag for her inspection. "Jump back – don’t you touch nothin’!" she screamed. "You get yo'self over there and out of my way. This ain't hard. Put ‘yo bags on the table. NOW. I SAID, PUT ‘YO BAGS ON THE TABLE!" I was floored - it was shocking in that her belligerence came out of nowhere. I have a broken and separated shoulder, so I was lifting slowly. Even considering the injury, I was moving a very reasonable pace. I froze for a moment because I was so shocked, beginning to be upset, when her male colleague rushed in with "This is secondary security screening! We made several announcements and there are signs everywhere. If you didn't hear us, then you should be at the gate earlier!"
Huh?! Totally non-sequitur tantrum there fella - no one's freaking out about secondary screening. Rather, someone's standing there shocked into silence first by your insane colleague and now by you.
Sad to say, I'm afraid this man seemed to be a supervisor of sorts - though I use the term with the greatest irony. As an aside, I was at the gate precisely at 8:30pm, which is exactly when the ticket agent told me to be there.
As another woman patted me down, I asked her to be very careful of my shoulder, which she wasn't, causing me to flinch. At this the black woman started screaming again about how "it ain't hard!" She and her colleague were laughing and making fun of me and several other passengers, who were also struggling with the belligerence and general pandemonium at the gate.
Several Jordanians behind me were laughing and said "If this is 'security' here in America, you are right to be afraid all the time."
Sadly, I completely agree with my fellow passengers. It was a truly spectacular display of incompetence, belligerence and unprofessionalism.
Oh, and did I mention that my suitcase is still in Chicago? Held up by "security screening." Because evidently a 3-hour layover is just too tight for the TSA to deal with.
God bless TSA and the DHS. Without them, other countries would have less to laugh at us about. Sigh.
When I approached the woman to give her my bags, I attempted to place my phone inside the bag for her inspection. "Jump back – don’t you touch nothin’!" she screamed. "You get yo'self over there and out of my way. This ain't hard. Put ‘yo bags on the table. NOW. I SAID, PUT ‘YO BAGS ON THE TABLE!" I was floored - it was shocking in that her belligerence came out of nowhere. I have a broken and separated shoulder, so I was lifting slowly. Even considering the injury, I was moving a very reasonable pace. I froze for a moment because I was so shocked, beginning to be upset, when her male colleague rushed in with "This is secondary security screening! We made several announcements and there are signs everywhere. If you didn't hear us, then you should be at the gate earlier!"
Huh?! Totally non-sequitur tantrum there fella - no one's freaking out about secondary screening. Rather, someone's standing there shocked into silence first by your insane colleague and now by you.
Sad to say, I'm afraid this man seemed to be a supervisor of sorts - though I use the term with the greatest irony. As an aside, I was at the gate precisely at 8:30pm, which is exactly when the ticket agent told me to be there.
As another woman patted me down, I asked her to be very careful of my shoulder, which she wasn't, causing me to flinch. At this the black woman started screaming again about how "it ain't hard!" She and her colleague were laughing and making fun of me and several other passengers, who were also struggling with the belligerence and general pandemonium at the gate.
Several Jordanians behind me were laughing and said "If this is 'security' here in America, you are right to be afraid all the time."
Sadly, I completely agree with my fellow passengers. It was a truly spectacular display of incompetence, belligerence and unprofessionalism.
Oh, and did I mention that my suitcase is still in Chicago? Held up by "security screening." Because evidently a 3-hour layover is just too tight for the TSA to deal with.
God bless TSA and the DHS. Without them, other countries would have less to laugh at us about. Sigh.
Oct 8, 2010, 5:05 pm
#4
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Oct 8, 2010, 6:22 pm
#6
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,967
OP, sorry for your experience. It appears as I and others have experienced with TSA, pointing out an injury or area of pain often invites rough handling or retaliation.
On this thread we cannot get clear answers, but it appears that passengers with pain or injury are at fault for flying with said pain or injury.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...l#post14912321
On this thread we cannot get clear answers, but it appears that passengers with pain or injury are at fault for flying with said pain or injury.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...l#post14912321
Oct 8, 2010, 6:23 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 317
It does zero good to report anything. On the flip side I have seen some disgusting pax lately. One was throwing bins on the floor so everyone could trip and another was verbally abusing a screener. I was embarrassed by this man's actions and his poor wife was mortified.
Oct 8, 2010, 6:32 pm
#8
Suspended
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4,953
Sitting at my hotel in Amman ruminating on the latest TSA absurdity I've encountered. Flying out O'Hare-Amman T5 and was subjected to secondary screening, which is par for the course to this region of the world and basically consists of someone rummaging through your carry-ons and groping you.
When I approached the woman to give her my bags, I attempted to place my phone inside the bag for her inspection. "Jump back – don’t you touch nothin’!" she screamed. "You get yo'self over there and out of my way. This ain't hard. Put ‘yo bags on the table. NOW. I SAID, PUT ‘YO BAGS ON THE TABLE!" I was floored - it was shocking in that her belligerence came out of nowhere. I have a broken and separated shoulder, so I was lifting slowly. Even considering the injury, I was moving a very reasonable pace. I froze for a moment because I was so shocked, beginning to be upset, when her male colleague rushed in with "This is secondary security screening! We made several announcements and there are signs everywhere. If you didn't hear us, then you should be at the gate earlier!"
Huh?! Totally non-sequitur tantrum there fella - no one's freaking out about secondary screening. Rather, someone's standing there shocked into silence first by your insane colleague and now by you.
Sad to say, I'm afraid this man seemed to be a supervisor of sorts - though I use the term with the greatest irony. As an aside, I was at the gate precisely at 8:30pm, which is exactly when the ticket agent told me to be there.
As another woman patted me down, I asked her to be very careful of my shoulder, which she wasn't, causing me to flinch. At this the black woman started screaming again about how "it ain't hard!" She and her colleague were laughing and making fun of me and several other passengers, who were also struggling with the belligerence and general pandemonium at the gate.
Several Jordanians behind me were laughing and said "If this is 'security' here in America, you are right to be afraid all the time."
Sadly, I completely agree with my fellow passengers. It was a truly spectacular display of incompetence, belligerence and unprofessionalism.
Oh, and did I mention that my suitcase is still in Chicago? Held up by "security screening." Because evidently a 3-hour layover is just too tight for the TSA to deal with.
God bless TSA and the DHS. Without them, other countries would have less to laugh at us about. Sigh.
When I approached the woman to give her my bags, I attempted to place my phone inside the bag for her inspection. "Jump back – don’t you touch nothin’!" she screamed. "You get yo'self over there and out of my way. This ain't hard. Put ‘yo bags on the table. NOW. I SAID, PUT ‘YO BAGS ON THE TABLE!" I was floored - it was shocking in that her belligerence came out of nowhere. I have a broken and separated shoulder, so I was lifting slowly. Even considering the injury, I was moving a very reasonable pace. I froze for a moment because I was so shocked, beginning to be upset, when her male colleague rushed in with "This is secondary security screening! We made several announcements and there are signs everywhere. If you didn't hear us, then you should be at the gate earlier!"
Huh?! Totally non-sequitur tantrum there fella - no one's freaking out about secondary screening. Rather, someone's standing there shocked into silence first by your insane colleague and now by you.
Sad to say, I'm afraid this man seemed to be a supervisor of sorts - though I use the term with the greatest irony. As an aside, I was at the gate precisely at 8:30pm, which is exactly when the ticket agent told me to be there.
As another woman patted me down, I asked her to be very careful of my shoulder, which she wasn't, causing me to flinch. At this the black woman started screaming again about how "it ain't hard!" She and her colleague were laughing and making fun of me and several other passengers, who were also struggling with the belligerence and general pandemonium at the gate.
Several Jordanians behind me were laughing and said "If this is 'security' here in America, you are right to be afraid all the time."
Sadly, I completely agree with my fellow passengers. It was a truly spectacular display of incompetence, belligerence and unprofessionalism.
Oh, and did I mention that my suitcase is still in Chicago? Held up by "security screening." Because evidently a 3-hour layover is just too tight for the TSA to deal with.
God bless TSA and the DHS. Without them, other countries would have less to laugh at us about. Sigh.
Oct 8, 2010, 7:49 pm
#11
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An "In Your Face" Encounter We Would Love To Have
In one way or another, we either have had or will have an encounter such as this with a screener. Earl Weaver. (Not safe for work or if you are offended by the use of the "F" word by (through analogy) would be a TSA screener.
Oct 8, 2010, 10:35 pm
#13
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Oct 9, 2010, 9:32 am
#14
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 111
The only time I've been to O'hare and this was a few years ago, I remember many of the TSA people practically barking orders out to people.
The problem is many of the passengers don't bother to read any signs around up about taking off shoes, removing coats, etc. That is what I was noticing.
The problem is many of the passengers don't bother to read any signs around up about taking off shoes, removing coats, etc. That is what I was noticing.
Oct 9, 2010, 10:21 am
#15
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It's hard to read with comprehension when someone is screaming at you. On top of that, the instructions that you don't have to read because they're screaming them at you anyway are mostly stupid, e.g. remove shoes, liquid baggies out, etc.