Community
Wiki Posts
Search

New Year's Resolution: Thank a TSA agent

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jan 8, 2011, 12:36 pm
  #61  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,145
I say 'thank you' to just about everyone out of reflexive politeness. But I don't think anyone should confuse the words 'thank you' with heartfelt gratitude, whether saying them or hearing them.
TheGolfWidow is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2011, 12:42 pm
  #62  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ohio
Programs: HH Dia, WOH Dia, Bonvoy Gold, IHG Plt
Posts: 131
I understand all the venting and frustration about the security searches and pat downs and such, but my biggest beef is just the overall lack of professionalism. I make it a point of saying thank you to the TSA folks that are acting like PROFESSIONALS but that happens amazingly seldom.

--When I have to stack up 8 empty plastic bins just so I can get my bags unjammed and out of the X-ray screener, and there is a TSA employee literally standing there staring at the bins... I don't say thank you.

--When a TSA employee takes my shoes out of a bin that has a Zappos ad on the bottom of it with two outlines of shoeprints, and then YELLS to the world "People! How many times do I have to tell you? SHOES DO NOT GO IN BINS!!! Jeeze!"... I do not say thank you. (A: how many times? Uh... once would be nice....)

I have to stop myself because I could go on and on, but you all could as well.

--When I forgot a bottle of water in my suitcase and the TSA agent politely said, "Sir, unfortunately this bottle of water will have to be thrown away unless you'd like to drink it here" I respectfully said "I'm sorry, I forgot about that... thank you for your professionalism."

--When the TSA agent said, "Sorry for the inconvenience, but I'll have to conduct a secondary screening." I said, "OK... thanks for being polite about it."

Basically, I find all the times I GET to thank a TSA agent it is basically to say, "Thanks for not being a complete unprofessional like most of the other folks you have to work with." And that says alot.

And to the previous poster who was upset at the slobbering displays of thanks to people in uniform... I sincerely hope you in no way ever feel pressured to participate, as that sort of pressure is just not cool. People who travel in uniform would not want other folks to feel peer pressure to say thanks. But... some folks for whatever crazy reason do wish to express their appreciation for, say, a young 22-year old who volunteers to take a bullet in the defense of the nation. If you do not wish to do so... no worries at all. To those who DO, thanks... it means a lot when y'all say nice things.

Lumping all people wearing uniforms in the same group is a bit much, though. Soldiers don't have unions, don't have 2 15 minute breaks plus 30 for lunch, don't get time and a half for OT, can't choose to quit if they don't like the job... oh, and sometimes have to leave their family behind for years while they get shot at in a place they'd rather not be. Similar stuff for Police, Firemen, etc. TSA, not so much. Lots of people make sacrifices in their jobs, and there are many ways to serve the nation... no disrespect for that. Kid saying "I'll get shot at if it means my family and nation are safe" is something different.
Alumino is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2011, 1:05 pm
  #63  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,425
Originally Posted by Alumino
I understand all the venting and frustration about the security searches and pat downs and such, but my biggest beef is just the overall lack of professionalism. I make it a point of saying thank you to the TSA folks that are acting like PROFESSIONALS but that happens amazingly seldom.

--When I have to stack up 8 empty plastic bins just so I can get my bags unjammed and out of the X-ray screener, and there is a TSA employee literally standing there staring at the bins... I don't say thank you.

--When a TSA employee takes my shoes out of a bin that has a Zappos ad on the bottom of it with two outlines of shoeprints, and then YELLS to the world "People! How many times do I have to tell you? SHOES DO NOT GO IN BINS!!! Jeeze!"... I do not say thank you. (A: how many times? Uh... once would be nice....)

I have to stop myself because I could go on and on, but you all could as well.

--When I forgot a bottle of water in my suitcase and the TSA agent politely said, "Sir, unfortunately this bottle of water will have to be thrown away unless you'd like to drink it here" I respectfully said "I'm sorry, I forgot about that... thank you for your professionalism."

--When the TSA agent said, "Sorry for the inconvenience, but I'll have to conduct a secondary screening." I said, "OK... thanks for being polite about it."

Basically, I find all the times I GET to thank a TSA agent it is basically to say, "Thanks for not being a complete unprofessional like most of the other folks you have to work with." And that says alot.

And to the previous poster who was upset at the slobbering displays of thanks to people in uniform... I sincerely hope you in no way ever feel pressured to participate, as that sort of pressure is just not cool. People who travel in uniform would not want other folks to feel peer pressure to say thanks. But... some folks for whatever crazy reason do wish to express their appreciation for, say, a young 22-year old who volunteers to take a bullet in the defense of the nation. If you do not wish to do so... no worries at all. To those who DO, thanks... it means a lot when y'all say nice things.

Lumping all people wearing uniforms in the same group is a bit much, though. Soldiers don't have unions, don't have 2 15 minute breaks plus 30 for lunch, don't get time and a half for OT, can't choose to quit if they don't like the job... oh, and sometimes have to leave their family behind for years while they get shot at in a place they'd rather not be. Similar stuff for Police, Firemen, etc. TSA, not so much. Lots of people make sacrifices in their jobs, and there are many ways to serve the nation... no disrespect for that. Kid saying "I'll get shot at if it means my family and nation are safe" is something different.
Agree 100% about the soldiers.

Disagree 100% about TSA; The phrase "Thank you sir, for most professionally handling my crotch" just sticks in my craw.

Yes, some posters mentioned some TSA agents that don't go for the genitals; unfortunately you can't count on them being where you need to go.
nachtnebel is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2011, 2:42 pm
  #64  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,581
Originally Posted by meisterau
I have been thanking the TSA agents for dong their job despite their and our misgivings. They have been quite surprised and appreciative.

I would like to ask all of us to thank the next TSA agent you encounter
Were you serious when you started this thread?
halls120 is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2011, 3:02 pm
  #65  
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: CLT
Programs: Choice Hotels/FFOCUS
Posts: 7,256
Originally Posted by halls120
Were you serious when you started this thread?
^^^
coachrowsey is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2011, 3:05 pm
  #66  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Ex Platinum & 1MM, DL PLT, Marriott Gold, HH Diamond
Posts: 2,490
Originally Posted by meisterau
I have been thanking the TSA agents for dong their job despite their and our misgivings. They have been quite surprised and appreciative.

I would like to ask all of us to thank the next TSA agent you encounter
What, exactly, would I be thanking them for???
txrus is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2011, 3:31 pm
  #67  
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: WN Nothing and spending the half million points from too many flights, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 8,043
I have been watching this thread for a while and I have to admit that there are two specific instances in which I will nearly always thank the screener for their actions.

The first is at the TDC podium. If after accepting my Nexus and making the magic squiggle, when I am handed the Nexus and the BP I will say "Thanks." The unsaid continuation of that "Thanks" is "Thanks for not being an idiot and asking me for a drivers license and not accepting a perfectly valid for of ID per your own SOP and then necessitating that I escalate the exposure of your idiocy by requesting a supervisor, who as often as not, would have agreed with you and would not have even been interested in the documentation from your own web site that explains in vivid detail that the Nexus is indeed a valid form of ID, the third on the list actually, and requiring that I stand to the side like a common criminal while awaiting a decision on my valid ID from the person next in line above the person that just agreed with you and eventually must surrender that I am right, the last last 4-8 people I just had to deal with were wrong and that I will now be due a detailed beyond all comprehension investigation of the contents of my carry on and backpack before I can finally proceed to the gate."

The second is upon the completion of a routine, as opposed to retaliatory, screening of my carry with ETD that takes less time than I need to put my shoes back on and check that everything I hid in a dark corner of my backpack remains there upon completion of its trip through the xray and past the unseen hands of the screeners behind the machine. The ETD operator will snap my bag closed after thoroughly swabbing the entire bag with minimal disruption of the contents and observing that the screen indicates that I am good to go while with a smile thanks me for my patience and hands my bag to me. I will say "Thanks" as I take it from him/her. And this "Thanks" is for the fact that my bag, and any bag that looks like it on the xray really should be screened with ETD, and that in this one case, they really are doing a job I want them to do, with minimal hassle, politely, and using technology that is not dangerous to me or my stuff, and that if done more often may one day prevent that Mega-buck lottery level plus odds of an incident that would capture many, many news cycles before culminating in new regulations making flying even more difficult, even more of a violation of my constitutional rights, even more humiliating, even more painful, even more slow than the current procedures, and that the screening was completed without ridiculous small talk about where I am going (NOYB), without asking what kind of work I do (even if I told you you would not know), without damaging my fragile instruments, without trying to repack my stuff with the careful attention of a two year old pushing triangle, square and star shaped blocks into one of those colorful pull apart balls that have holes that only fit the shapes they have but they will try to put them into the wrong ones anyway, and finally for not taking away valuable, but mysterious to the screener, tools just because they look like they might be dangerous if used in a way only imaginable by Jack Bauer or Christopher Chance (or more likely Guerrero).

So, yes, thanks! No resolution needed.
InkUnderNails is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2011, 10:20 pm
  #68  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Baltimore, MD USA
Programs: Southwest Rapid Rewards. Tha... that's about it.
Posts: 4,332
I'm surprised and dismayed by the hatred and vitriol displayed in this thread.

I'm certainly not going to thank a TSO who abuses their position or participates in a violation of my civil rights (which I think that the AIT scan is, and the gropedown certainly is), but I'm not going to demonize them as a modern-day Gestapo intent on sending us all to concentration camps.

Although there are certainly some TSOs who are on rabid power trips, and there are plenty who are unmitigated jerks who just don't care about the people who come through the lines, the majority of TSOs are simply a little dim, and, like the majority of Americans, just doesn't understand WHY their job is such an infringement upon personal liberties.

Most TSOs just don't get it. But let's be honest - given the various poll results showing overwhelming support for the AIT scanners, I think that the same can be said for most non-TSO Americans, too. They're all so focused on things like hassle, inconvenience, and the sheer, unadulterated TERROR caused by even flying on a plane in the first place, let alone the possibility of being a victim in a terrorist attack, that they simply forgot those long-ago lessons in high school civics that explained what the Constitution is, what it does, and most importantly, WHY it was written the way it was written.

I don't hate most TSOs, and I think anyone who calls for violence against them is just as bad as they are, or worse. In fact, I don't even care for the joking, kidding calls for violence against TSOs.

We are supposed to be the good guys. But we're not the good guys because of who we are, where we live, what color we are, what profession we are, what church we attend, what flag we hang on our porch, or what song we sing before a sporting event. We're the good guys because of how we treat other people, including our enemies. Our enemies are the bad guys because of how they treat people. And when we start treating people the same way the bad guys treat them, then we're NOT the good guys any more, we're the bad guys.

So I say, let's BE the good guys. Let's take the high road, let's ACT like the principaled, ethical people we aspire to be, and let's approach this crisis of personal freedom - and I do believe it's a crisis - in a way that would make the Founding Fathers proud of us.

And that doesn't include throwing tomatoes, or epithets, at TSOs, no matter how despicable their agency's procedures might be.

Originally Posted by InkUnderNails
...tools just because they look like they might be dangerous if used in a way only imaginable by Jack Bauer or Christopher Chance (or more likely Guerrero).

So, yes, thanks! No resolution needed.
Dude, don't EVER mention Guerrero's name in a public forum! Seriously, dude, he values his privacy.

And he never signs ANYTHING.
WillCAD is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2011, 3:07 am
  #69  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Greensboro
Programs: TSA
Posts: 2,424
Originally Posted by WillCAD
I'm surprised and dismayed by the hatred and vitriol displayed in this thread.

I'm certainly not going to thank a TSO who abuses their position or participates in a violation of my civil rights (which I think that the AIT scan is, and the gropedown certainly is), but I'm not going to demonize them as a modern-day Gestapo intent on sending us all to concentration camps.

Although there are certainly some TSOs who are on rabid power trips, and there are plenty who are unmitigated jerks who just don't care about the people who come through the lines, the majority of TSOs are simply a little dim, and, like the majority of Americans, just doesn't understand WHY their job is such an infringement upon personal liberties.

Most TSOs just don't get it. But let's be honest - given the various poll results showing overwhelming support for the AIT scanners, I think that the same can be said for most non-TSO Americans, too. They're all so focused on things like hassle, inconvenience, and the sheer, unadulterated TERROR caused by even flying on a plane in the first place, let alone the possibility of being a victim in a terrorist attack, that they simply forgot those long-ago lessons in high school civics that explained what the Constitution is, what it does, and most importantly, WHY it was written the way it was written.

I don't hate most TSOs, and I think anyone who calls for violence against them is just as bad as they are, or worse. In fact, I don't even care for the joking, kidding calls for violence against TSOs.

We are supposed to be the good guys. But we're not the good guys because of who we are, where we live, what color we are, what profession we are, what church we attend, what flag we hang on our porch, or what song we sing before a sporting event. We're the good guys because of how we treat other people, including our enemies. Our enemies are the bad guys because of how they treat people. And when we start treating people the same way the bad guys treat them, then we're NOT the good guys any more, we're the bad guys.

So I say, let's BE the good guys. Let's take the high road, let's ACT like the principaled, ethical people we aspire to be, and let's approach this crisis of personal freedom - and I do believe it's a crisis - in a way that would make the Founding Fathers proud of us.

And that doesn't include throwing tomatoes, or epithets, at TSOs, no matter how despicable their agency's procedures might be.



Dude, don't EVER mention Guerrero's name in a public forum! Seriously, dude, he values his privacy.

And he never signs ANYTHING.
^
gsoltso is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2011, 5:50 am
  #70  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: OOL/DOH
Programs: QF LTS WP, Avis Pres Club, HH Diam.
Posts: 3,192
sorry, I will never thank a TSA clerk while they carry out their organisations directions - they are preventing me from visiting the US, lot's of friends and places I used to enjoy visiting.

Until they stop doing what they are doing and I can again visit the US, no, I will not thank them, but curse them and their agency...
VH-RMD is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2011, 6:19 am
  #71  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,581
Originally Posted by gsoltso
^
Do you realize that in giving the thumbs up to the post at issue that you endorsed the following statement by the OP?

Although there are certainly some TSOs who are on rabid power trips, and there are plenty who are unmitigated jerks who just don't care about the people who come through the lines, the majority of TSOs are simply a little dim, and, like the majority of Americans, just doesn't understand WHY their job is such an infringement upon personal liberties.
halls120 is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2011, 6:38 am
  #72  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: OOL/DOH
Programs: QF LTS WP, Avis Pres Club, HH Diam.
Posts: 3,192
even the clerks realise their efforts are futile...
VH-RMD is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2011, 7:21 am
  #73  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Greensboro
Programs: TSA
Posts: 2,424
Originally Posted by halls120
Do you realize that in giving the thumbs up to the post at issue that you endorsed the following statement by the OP?
I realize that giving the thumbs up to well reasoned posts that make points I agree with, whether I agree with all of them or not is conducive to learning another point of view. I do not agree that much of our workforce is "dim", but there are employees that do not need to be a part of the organization for a number of reasons. Giving a thumbs up to someone that is furthering the discussion in a positive manner is what we all should do.

Last edited by gsoltso; Jan 9, 2011 at 7:22 am Reason: spelling
gsoltso is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2011, 7:54 am
  #74  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Southeast USA
Programs: various
Posts: 6,710
Originally Posted by meisterau
New Year's Resolution: Thank a TSA agent ....
This New Year's Resolution goes into my Most-Likely-to-be-Broken pile.
jiejie is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2011, 8:39 am
  #75  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Winter Garden, FL
Programs: Delta DM-3MM United Gold-MM Marriott Lifetime Titanium Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 13,498
Originally Posted by WillCAD
...I'm not going to demonize them as a modern-day Gestapo intent on sending us all to concentration camps....
I will.

Bruce
bdschobel is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.