DevilDog438

All of those acronyms are actually in the TS/S glossary sticky: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-glossary.html

muji

Thank you! I didn't know they were listed and explained there. I'm relatively new to this forum.

DevilDog438

No worries, that is the exact reason why I replied.

Cholula created that link two years ago because of the confusion of many of the acronyms that are unique to this particular FT forum, and several of us have made contributions over that time to help him update the information it contains. Unless he has a reason to update it, it tends to sit as the #3 link on the TS/S thread listing.

gdeluca

Well done anaggie! Thanks for the tips Mr. Elliott.

Mr. Elliott

I agree 100 percent in letting the LEO as soon as they come over that it was you, not the TSO that asked for LEO assistance.

The most important thing you have to remember who you are dealing with, the minimum education requirement to be hired as a TSO is a GED, or relevant work experience like flipping hamburgers at McDonalds, so in some cases you are not dealing with someone who has even average intellegence, I don’t think passing an IQ test is a requirement for employment at the TSA. Put a badge on some of these dimwits, it goes right to their heads, they think they are god and can $hit over people when questioning their authority

Mr. Elliott

FlyingUnderTheRadar

While I agree one would lose the discussion, and I know I am picking nits here but the "Do you want to fly today" in any shape or form is out of line. The TSO's job at that point is solely to determine whether I am worthy of passing into the secure area of the terminal. That means their retort should be nothing less than: "Sir, for you to pass I need to remove your XXX"

To the OP great story. Thanks, I am dreading when something that happens to myself.

DLNYC

Great information in this thread. Thanks to the OP and Mr. Elliott. Bookmarked the thread so I'm prepared should I ever encounter a similar situation.

LuvAirFrance

I think ACLU or perhaps some travel-related organization not dependent on the government needs to put out the travel equivalent of the "patient bill of rights" that was compiled so that patients going into one or another medical facility doesn't abandon their rights because of the intimidating quality of authority figures. I wonder how one would go about getting that done. As some of the posts here demonstrate, law enforcement and perhaps others on the periphery of this process recognize there are legal limits to how TSO's "get the job done". But most of us are pretty ignorant. We are more likely to simply try to avoid the situation.

InkUnderNails

That's actually a great idea. It would eventually be co opted by Congress if legislation was to result based on its provisions.

Let's do this. I'll will work on it this week to see what kind of formulation looks good. Just drop hints in this thread and I will watch for them. Or if it takes off we could dedicate a thread. At the end of the week, we will have a draft to finalize.

It could be put in the brochures, on signs, on business cards.

The Flyer Talk Traveler's Bill of Rights.

This, is the kind of stuff I can do.

I love it!

janetdoe

Here's the link

brilliantatbreakfast

It's the luck of the draw, I guess. I was recently on my way home from Fort Lauderdale and I hadn't known they had the scanners in place. My stuff was already through the x-ray machine and I had my work laptop with me -- the one where you're not even supposed to stop to pick up milk on the way home if you have it with you. I said that I am opting out and will take alternate screening. I had to repeat it several times; apparently they hadn't had to deal with one very often. They read me a spiel about delays, etc., and I waited only about 5 minutes. The TSA goon made it clear, however, that I was inconveniencing them.

The woman who did the pat-down was courteous, explaining exactly what she had to do. I explained that I was concerned about my laptop because it was my work computer -- and I offered to turn it on if they had concerns about it. The groper brought my stuff over, everything went OK, and when it was done I said "The only reason I'm doing this is because I'm concerned about radiation. I get a mammogram every year and dental x-rays and that's enough. I know you guys are people too and you don't like doing this any more than I do." Her response: "I don't blame you one bit. I don't trust those things either."

Since the scanners are not closed, I wonder how much radiation the TSA people are being bombarded with every day.

This is nothing but "security theatre." From the day the expression became "feel safer" instead of "be safer", we've been on the way to this kind of surveillance state.

BearX220

They'll die of cancer before you do. (Why does my dental hygenist run for cover before pressing the x-ray button, leaving me under a big lead-lined smock, but it's OK for people to stand around these WBI devices all day?) Thank you for opting out, and welcome to Flyertalk. Great FT handle. ^

youreadyfreddie

anaggie: Good on you for knowing your stuff and standing your ground. ^^

CalVol

I'll be flying out of ELP on the 22nd or 23rd. I will likely be on the 1st flight of the day. I'm fully prepared for another opt out.

For those who have recently flown out of ELP I have a couple of questions.

1. What's a normal time for clearing security for early morning flights?
2. Is the behavior described by the OP common at ELP?

Thanks!