GUWonder

If you are going to vomit or otherwise release bodily fluids from the mouth, doing so at a TDC station at an airport is about as good a place as any for that.

I observed the query at JFK with a TSA employee trying to fish for information about ethnic, national and religious affiliations related to some name. A waste of everyone's time.

InkUnderNails

I think we should all learn to sign our name. It is incredibly easy to learn a few letters. It is what I will use if asked.

Here is a good chart to learn the letters.

I did hear about one experience of someone using signs at the TDC. The TDC did not know ASL and called the supervisor. The TDC said something on the order of "I need an interpreter as this person is deaf." The person said to the supervisor and the TDC " I did not say I was deaf. I just chose to communicate in signs."

Supervisor gave the magic squiggle and sent them on.

Wally Bird

Much, much worse than that. I would have stopped the assembly line right there and made the biggest scene ever seen at JFK (well, maybe not the biggest).

That behavior is so far beyond the pale I can't even begin to categorize it.

Boggie Dog

All I can do is say it happened to me.

February 18, Gate A20, LTSO Gerard was one of two people checking ID's and Boarding Passes.

SFOSpiff

I wonder if writing it down is an acceptable alternative. It seems to me that if the point of this is to catch people who doesn't actually belong to the ID, then spelling the name (especially certain difficult to pronounce names) would be better than saying it.

Wally Bird

If one is going to place any credibility on the premise then writing would certainly be 'better'. Many ways to pronounce something, just one to spell it.

It's all utter nonsense anyway.

Affection

lol... reminds me of the one and only time I saw a cute TSA screener. She was a TDC and had a distinctive last name on her name tag. I was able to find her on Facebook before I reached my gate. IIRC, she was a 19-year-old college girl working hard at 6 AM. FLL, which I stopped flying out of because of the NoS:WTMD ratio. Never sent her a message since I couldn't think of a non-creepy introduction, and no, I don't have the name saved and therefore can't re-locate the profile picture.

Anyway, I'm with you all on the refusing to say my name thing, but because of my aversion to stupidity, not for privacy reasons. I post my name, address, e-mail, and phone number on the Internet in my legal docs against the TSA, and nothing happens. At airports, there are a million guys with Rolexes (er, Rolicies? ), an even greater quantity of pretty women, etc., and there's no reason for anyone to rob/stalk/harass/etc. you in particular. Everyone's always watching out for the "new high-tech crime," but if one was looking for a victim, it would be 1,000x easier to simply find that victim on the street. It's kind of like how the TSA buys all this fancy equipment to look for the new high-tech terrorist while their failure rate for conventional weapons is something like 80%.

--Jon

InkUnderNails

I, too, am not that concerned about the privacy issue, although I understand that some are. My concern is that the web site tells me what I have to present to be allowed to enter the checkpoint and saying my name is not one of them. I have to have a boarding pass (or a gate pass) and a photo ID that meets their requirement. I do not have to have a photo ID but it is suggested. Making up new requirements without documenting them or informing passengers is the sort of thing that is expected in totalitarian regimes whose primary goal is the control of the population. This is the reason that I resist these efforts.

The requirements for passing security and getting on my plane should never be mysterious or haphazard. However, the whole process is shrouded in mystery. It appears to be an attempt at psychological manipulation, but I would hope that this is accidental and not purposeful. I would hate to suspect that we are that close to losing our remaining liberty.

StanSimmons

I'd love to get that info from you. All I have is the FSD info.

exbayern

It also should not exclude a large segment of the travelling population from being able to voluntarily respond. Just like the AIT, this new process overlooks a large number of people who don't fit into the 'normal' slot.

SQ421

Who says you have to spell it in English

MITjazz

If the TSA were serious about boarding passes belonging to who they're supposed to, they'd ask for ID and check that against the boarding pass.

This new method sounds like it was implemented solely for the amusement of TSA.

stifle

I doubt that would go very far, since he already has your name printed on two different documents in his hand...

sylvas808

I wanna pull a cheech "uhhhhhh... Isn't it on there on the license?"

bdschobel

Start hating. You're long overdue. Seriously.

Bruce