Try not making lame threats and then perhaps we'll take what you say seriously.
No supervisor is going to pull a screener off the line to deal with a passenger because their line-of-site to their luggage was blocked for a few seconds. If it's so important to you, tell the screeners beforehand.

[This message has been edited by CATSA Screener (edited 06-20-2003).]

Why is it so difficult for you to understand that this is a legitimate concern? And wasn't it you tsadude who told me that we have every right to ask to not be separated from our belongings?? If not, it was a screener here.



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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

He never said he would be un-civil or that he would be demanding anyone's badge. Just said basically he wasn't going to be wanded unless he was in sight of his belongings. From your reaction, it is pretty obvious where the attitude will be coming from.



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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

He was responding to studentff's frivolous threat of getting us in trouble with our supervisor. It was the tone of the message, not the content of the concern.

Real cute,nice comeback. You sound like a REMF.Are you?

One thing they teach in the military is RESPECT (I'm sure you remember that). Assuming that passengers are respectful when dealing with you and your supervisors, I will assume that you'll return the courtesy.

It's a shame that with so many retired military supposedly hanging around in the TSA these days, people and their belongings do not appear to get the respect that they deserve. I've read about many cases (and seen a number of times myself) where people's belongings-- including some rather expensive electronic equipment-- were just dumped out on a table willy-nilly. I usually carry the following with me in my carry-on luggage:

-HP iPAQ h5455 PocketPC
-Archos Jukebox Multimedia MP3 Player
-Noise cancelling headphones
-HP iPAQ h3850 PocketPC (yes, a 2nd PocketPC)
-Toshiba laptop
-Wireless mouse
-Wireless game controller

I am sure that you can appreciate why I wouldn't appreciate someone just dumping all this out onto a table. I am also sure that you can appreciate why I want my baggage to remain with me AT ALL TIMES. This stuff is too small, easy, and tempting to steal-- and I'm sure that I would have a hard time getting reimbursed for any theft by the TSA or any other organization.

I do not see where his comments indicated at all that his intent would be to get a screener in trouble. Fact of the matter is, if you don't go along with what the prescribed prgram du jour is, you'll likely end up with a supervisor and asking for complaint forms as well, since it really shouldn't have to get to that point.


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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

Oh well, I guess tsadude and I are too sensitive. It's just like with cops... when you assert your rights, except in the most respectful of ways, we see a smart-.... Doesn't mean we're right, but we have a job to do and we just see your badgering as an impediment to that. Of course a professional won't let such frustrations affect how he does his job so you should get the same level of service whether you "sheeple" through the point or demand that you be able to keep your luggage in sight and your shoes on.

[This message has been edited by CATSA Screener (edited 06-21-2003).]

Respect is a two way street. I cannot speak for other airports nor am I a official spokesperson for the TSA.I speak my mind here at this board and say what I want too and how I want too.You don't know me but yet you judge. I have had my ... chewed for helping too much if you can believe that. We have one of the biggest retirement communities in the nation. We help many confused golden year passengers stay with their items all of the time. I understand your concerns if you have something that is very valuable and it needs to be secure and so do many others. By the way, many of the retired military are not just hanging around, we are keeping the former private screeners on track.

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound too judgemental in the last post. I agree-- respect is a two way street (especially in a customer-service oriented position). I guess the point that I was trying to make (unsuccessfully perhaps?) was that as long as passengers and their belongings are treated with the same respect that you request, problems on the line with picky (whiny?) passengers (like myself sometimes) can be minimized.

I may totally disagree with what you're doing and feel that it is a trampling of my 4th amendment rights, but I will be nothing but courteous and respectful to you and other agents as long as that respect is returned to me. Although I don't like to be secondary screened, I am willing to have it take a few minutes longer so that agents can change gloves and take their time to go through my bags without dumping everything out onto a table willy-nilly. And while I think the whole shoe thing is absolutely ludicrous, I'm willing to be polite and hand them to an agent if asked to do so in a respectful tone.

Attitude and the specific language used have a great deal to do with how I react to commands and interact with people.

There are certain settings and situations in which I will respond immediately to a direct order (I'm sure you've been there too... ), and then there are other situations-- scenarios in which I expect to be treated calmly and considerately. In the latter scenarios, being addressed as "Mr. Rankin" (if the screener remembers my name from the ID) or as "Sir" (otherwise, and preferrable) is appropriate-- as long as I haven't been abusive. Any "hey you, drop and give me 20" type attitude is met with a similar response. From my perspective, this type of interaction is as acceptable as a CPL issuing an order to a CPT-- it just won't produce good results.

As for the retired military on the lines-- I'm 100% sure that they aren't the ones that I've run into problems with in the past. As I'm sure you'll agree, you can usually tell them apart from everyone else (usually by looking at work ethic and attitude-- well, for the most part at least). And I'm sure that if they're standing around at the lines, they're either on a scheduled break or are observing for a purpose.

While I may diagree with the procedures that have been put in place, I recognize that the folks on the lines have nothing to do with creating them. I have been nothing but curteous to these folks in the past and intend to continue doing so myself. Now, that doesn't mean that I won't continue to criticise and blast when I see problems. It also doesn't mean that I won't continue to lobby my Congressman to push for audits and/or cutbacks to the TSA as well.

Edited for a few spelling and grammer-related changes.

[This message has been edited by clrankin (edited 06-21-2003).]

Mr Rankin, a huge majority of the screeners and supervisors are not there to hassle anyone but just to get you through the checkpoint and on with your travels.Are there some A-holes on a power trip? Yes there is and I cannot stand these jerks and jerkettes just like all of you. Passing through the checkpoint can be an easy thing. Greta Van Sustren passes through ours on a weekly basis and I have never seen her set off the mag.The same with Hulk Hogan. I can do it also. It is not hard.

It wasn't intended as a threat, just a matter of fact, and no I don't expect screeners to be "scared" that I would want to talk to a supervisor.

And quite frankly, I'm glad many screeners and their supervisors are retired miliatry. I grew up as a military brat, and for the most part have found that as long as I know what I'm talking about, dealing with military types is quite pleasant because they generally respect procedure and respect authority, and even in uncomfortable situations they can conduct a respectful, courteous, professional dialogue.

In this hypothetical situation, where I had politely asked to not be out-of-sight of my luggage and was refused that right by a screener, I would be having a simple conversation with the authority (a supervisor) about procedure (there's no procedure that requires taking me out of sight of my luggage that I know of.) The only redress I would expect is the supervisor saying, "Sir, that seems like a reasonable request and we'll try to work on that here. Sorry for the inconvienience."

It seems funny to me that 9 out 10 checkpoints and screeners seem to completely understand this simple concept and work to make it happen (I've thanked screeners at ORD and other places for having wanding stations facing luggage, etc.) while the remaining 1 out of 10 seem to be on some belligerant power-trip with a desire to intentionally separate people from their belongings and intimidate passengers with their coworkers' former careers and the fact that most hurried passengers don't have time to complain or be detained.

I say again that it's a legitimate concern. I don't have to like your agency or most of its policies to have a working respect for the TSA employees who do their job well, and you don't have to like me to agree that my concerns are reasonable, provide an efficient and effective screening, and send me on my way while returning the smile and "have a nice day" that I gave you if everything went OK.

Ok, that's cool. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I resent the TSA, too, especially when it behaves stupidly, but this statement by tsadude is totally consistent with my experience. For quite a while now, I have been getting through security checkpoints in just seconds. I voluntarily take off my shoes, which have steel shanks, remove my belt and everything from my pockets, and that's it. I don't set off the metal detector, nobody is interested in my bags, and I'm on my way. I even take the time to compliment those TSA employees who are a bit more polite than usual. I tell them that we passengers really notice their better-than-usual attitude and appreciate it!

Once in a while, I run into a jerk, like the one at DCA who sent me for secondary screening for being silent! Those are exceptions, however.

None of this is intended to suggest that I am a TSA supporter, just that it IS possible to reduce your interactions with them to a bare minimum.

Bruce