*bows*

It'll either be amusing, or really boring, but I'll report the status on BWI, either way. In any case, no one is seeing my naked shape, blurred or otherwise.

I'm 5'4", and look 10-12 years younger and meeker than I am. So people in authority (perceived or real) try to use that. I'm also a natural blond, and in this country, unfortunately, there's a stereotype about that too. That I look so healthy also works against me--they sometimes act like I'm trying to pull a fast one on them when I say, "No, I cannot bend over to get my shoes off."

But don't be fooled! As anyone who knows me will tell you, there's a feisty old woman inside.

I love it!

These front line burrocrats who underestimate an individual's limit to be bullied based on their age, gender, physical stature and/or disability -- and who try to exploit those factors -- deserve all the blowback they get.

Heheh, make no mistake. I am an extremely polite person and well-versed in etiquette. I am always polite, but I DO put my foot down. I won't be bullied, lied to, or lied about. Have had the TSA attempt all three (sometimes in the same encounter).

And I see no contradiction there. The only way to deal with bullies is to assert the moral upperhand while outwitting them on the decorum count.

Nice to know that the Justice Department feels that they are authorized to amend the Constitution without even following the guidance for said process written in the document itself.

The presumption, of course, is that these "burrocrats" wake up every day thinking "Let's see who I can bully today!" It's all about the ego, of course. :rolleyes:

I guess you never have someone thinking "I'm required to do a job - keep dangerous things off planes. How can I do this most efficiently?"

Nope. None of that. It's all about how much you can push people around. :rolleyes:

If they're really bullies, they won't let you.

A real bully punches you in the face when you stand up to them. Someone, somewhere, perpetrated a lie that if you stand up to bullies they back down. Really? Is that so? What a crock of crap.

I've been a LEO for almost two decades and let me tell you - when a real bully gets challenged, they challenge back.

You pays your money, you takes your chances.

Since we're talking about bullies and all, not people trying to do a job. There is a difference, not that anyone would know it from this board.

No. What you're describing is a thug.

Bullies are cowards at heart, which is why it's easy to deal with them. But if you feel more comfortable holding on to a disempowering belief when you needn't, suit yourself. @:-)

Some, not all. It is clear that some TSA "burros" (I need to remember that :)) have decided that taking an intimidating posture up front is the best way to deal with the average pax.

With some burros being ex-military or ex-LEO is that surprising?

Thinking doesn't enter into it, bullying is innate or an acquired characterisitc. For those screeners who like to swagger about, shout and intimidate passengers, yes it is. Rampant ego.It's not all about anything, unless you are stereotyping all screeners.

Semantics. A thug is a paid bully. I have personally fought and arrested people who were bullies in school and just graduated to criminally bullying - robbery. And the ones I ran across I could say weren't cowards - they fought back.

Let's see - Milton. He was 5'9 and 240 lbs of pure rage and fury. He would grab people by the throat and hit them until they gave him their money. It took four of us to take him down.

I double dog dare you to go stand up to Milton and do so because he's a "coward at heart." Let me know how that works out for you.

You speak from long experience with bullies? Most guys know from the school-yard that bullies are not the "cowards" that their well-meaning but naive moms made them out to be. A bully in the adult world has only changed tactics. The principle is the same - hurt those unable or less able to defend themselves. "Coward at heart" implies that if you challenge them, they'll just back down. There's one fatal flaw in this reasoning:

ALL RESPONSES TO A BULLY ARE PAINFUL.

The best you can do is to choose the type of pain that you hate the least...you can't avoid pain completely. The pain is either physical or emotional and bullies are practiced masters of causing this pain to others...They're much better at it than you are. That their victims are less powerful than them does not equate to "if you do show strength then they'll just back down." One does not necessarily equal the other. Maybe it will, and maybe it won't. Like I said, you pays your money, you takes your chances.

The problem with challenging bullies is that once you have said; "No, stop that!", what do you do when he starts to punch? Or whatever variant is apropos?

What do you do if your conflict resolution skills fail? What do you do if reason fails? How do you "attack back?" The problem is that reasoning and negotiating strategies work the least with the type of people you need them for the most! What works is power. You have to have more power than the person doing the bullying. More strength. And even then it's no guarantee of safety.

I don't advocate not fighting back. I do advocate doing so intelligently, and pithy expressions like "bullies are cowards at heart" are those well-meaning, throw away phrases that get people in trouble because they inadequately frame the problem.

On this board? Generally it's stereotyping all screeners.

Yes there are and will be bullies, and they should be dealt with. But the polices, while we may disagree with their methods and overall effect, I don't think are designed and devised simply to push people around and bully them.

Lead poisoning has a funny way of taking the rage and fury out of such people. :)

True, assuming you can get to it.

If he'd grabbed you and was punching, want to bet on the odds you'll be able to get your gun out? You'd have to deploy before he closed, and that's rare.

Of course, later he moved up to shotgun robberies of Pizza Huts. :)

I disagree as I believe that the policies are fear-based and that's how a bully controls his victims, through fear and intimidation.