6/15, USAirways checkpoint, Terminal A, MCI

I, shod only in Adidas shower shoes (and appropriate clothing for modesty's sake), approached the scrutiny point, obediently de-slippered to please our foot fetish scrutiny at MCI and pranced through the thingymajig unhindered. The gentleman behind me had also deshoed, dewalleted, dewhatever and when he pranced through the thingymajig it beeped and whistled and muttered got ya!

He politely asked if he got a second chance and was told in no uncertain terms NO (or was that NO WAY) and was directed to the super secondary scrutiny corral.

I, patiently waiting to retrieve my shower shoes, advised the agent that in fact "on the TSA website it states that passengers are allowed a second pass through the thingymajig" (I don't know if it really says that there but I figured there was a pretty good chance she hadn't ever been to that site, it sounded good, and I'm sure I read it here somewhere that it is there )

From three agents (the x-rayer, the thingymajig operator and some other dude just standing around with nothing to do) all cried out in unison...

NOT HERE!!!

The x-ray worker launched into the so obviously canned "We are 1 of 5 airports..."

I just put my hand up, informed her that I didn't need to hear anymore, I already knew it and added "so much for consistency."

She actually smiled and said "I know" and not in a Stepfordish way. With that slip, she probably was pulled immediately to the back and remedicated.

This got me to wondering (and since it took nearly 6 hours for our 2 1/2 flight to finally reach PHL, I had PLENTY of wondering time on the ERJ70 running this route)...

I know that these 5 airports (SFO, MCI...whatever) are private contractors but overseen by TSA. Does oversight mean they should be following TSA policy or just making it up as they go? Is this like State government laws can be stricter than Federal government laws? Or is it that if they actually let people have a second chance, all those dudes and dudettes standing around with nothing to do would have less to do?

Just wondering...and if anyone cares, the return from PHL to MCI took nearly 7 hours last night. But I was wondering about something else then...

I honestly have no clue how the private screeners do things. I know when we were private and overseen before the TSA moved into my airport, we did things the way the overseers wanted us to do them. So it might be that way.

Could the person have been a selectee by chance?

This "2nd chance" policy is totally up to the FSD. They have been given the option. If they choose not to use it, then they are not required to do so. All they have to do is say "it disrupts the flow thru the CP", which of course is a large load of ca-ca.

Nope.

I fly back and forth every week. Needless to say, I never get to keep my shoes on. I certainly feel much safer than you poor slobs that don't have to go through shoe removal. :-)