Darn you, FT...!
 

So.

There I was, moving away from the bag check position and heading over to the Supervisor podium. It was the bottom of the hour, and rotations were going on. I knew that my next position was going to be sent to my first break, but I had something to tell the STSO about first.

Namely, it had to do with the TSO that was at the WTMD. That position is one of the most important for the face of customer service, given that they're the ones who spend most of the initial talking-time with the passengers. Coming through the checkpoint was a bunch of space-campers heading back home - most every week during the year (though it slacks off a bunch during school time, without ever really going away completely) Huntsville plays host to a horde of lil' people eager to fill their minds with stars and gaseous anomalies, learn to fly space shuttles on simulators, and do all kinds of really awesome stuff that my parents couldn't afford for me to do when I was their age.

The difference between these space-campers and just about any other group of space-campers, is that this group of space-campers was a group that consisted entirely of young people with disabilities. Namely, they were all blind. The TSO at the WTMD performed his job acceptably in terms of informing them of the need for shoe removal and the like, but dropped the ball tremendously when they were actually ready to come through the WTMD. No verbal guidance, no offering of a hand or an arm to help guide them through, nothing. If it weren't for the help of one of their chaperons, we'd have had star-struck tykes walking head-long into the WTMD's uprights.

Tsk.

This didn't change even after I walked up to the front and told him that he needs to be a little bit more sensitive to the fact that they can't see, and should be trying to help guide them in more than just telling them to "come on through."

So, there I was at the supervisor's podium after the rotation and all the chillin's were through, telling the STSO that it might be prudent to remind people at out-brief about the obligations that the TSOs have for assisting passengers with disabilities. The rest of the conversation with something like this (the name of the TSO has been changed):

Me: Blahblahblah, training with visual disabilities, blahblahblah... I just think it'd be a good idea.
STSO: Yeah, good point. I'll bring that up. And who was it, again? Bill?
Me: Yeah, up there playing moat dragon.
STSO: ...Moat dragon?

At that point, I flashed the biggest, dorkiest grin I had in my stockpile, then spun around and fled the checkpoint to go on break.

Darn you, FT.

Darn you all to heck. :cool:

I'm proud of you Dean.

Good going, Dean, on all counts! BTW, I've had gaseous anomalies when I've flown -- not pleasant for anyone. ;)

Were they audacious and unmitigated?? :p

And I agree on the ^^ for not just realizing that things should be handled better, but for actually saying something about it.

And for calling the moat dragon position what it really was. :D ^

FT has that effect on people. I can't walk by a sign for Ted while flying UA without thinking "RAR!" :D

That was the point of my thread, to be honest: The fact that I totally said 'moat dragon' right there on the checkpoint. It's not bad, really; I know it was created as a kind of mocking thing, but it's actually humorous to me. ;)

I'll probably get to explain it to the STSO later, but I wouldn't doubt it if it became slang for the WTMD position here in HSV. Kind of like how our hand-wanding booth is called "the fish bowl."

As for the rest... Well. Like I've said before, seeing something like that and mentioning it to the STSO is, I feel, an obligation on my part as a civil servant. I was doing my duty, and nothing more. Thanks for the kind words, though.

Please also explain to the STSO that your participation on FT puts a human face to TSA and does far more good for the agency that 100 "Official Blogs" at tsa.gov ever will. If you need letters of reference, I'll be happy to supply one. :)

The terminology also helps us deal with the checkpoint. For every name we come up with, there's usually a story behind it. :)

Dean, good for you for going to the supervisor regarding the blind kids and the lack of guidance your coworker provided. As far as the phrase "moat dragon" not becoming part of the TSA vocabular. Remember how "freedom baggie" was origianlly meant as an insult and then the TSA started using it in press releases. Who knows with your participation in FT you could add a few more words to the TSA lexicon.

Hopefully Dean will not suffer the same fate as the screener in Halifax who was threatened with dismissal if he continued to post on FT. And the screener in Myrtle Beach (IIRC) who was fired because of it (yeah, they gave a different reason, but...).

LOL Dean ^

I've used the phrase "Kippie bag" on occasion ... ;)

Sometimes when I'm advising male passengers on what to divest, I'll use a line from the TSA Gangstaz video ... "belt buckle, money clip, coins, keys ..."

I keep waiting for someone to catch on ... so far, nada! :p

looks like might just have to make a trip to hsv to present you* with a tootsie-pop ;). well done dean, very well done ^(both in the f/t spirit and in not only taking your job seriously but also with a touch of humanity and service)


*you'd be in very elite company as there is only one other tso who has rec'd one-great guy at ua sfo

Maybe we should have a TS&Security do in HSV:)

I've done the TSA Gangstaz line too. I thought it was hilarious.

i go in a heartbeat. out of work and flat broke but i'd go :)

Dean you made me get creative, I designed this shirt in your honor.

Nice. I gotta get one and wear it when I travel. Those who know would find it amusing.

Hah! TK, you could design a whole line of TSA-related clothing that would only be vaguely recognizable if you knew what you were looking for.

As for being fired for posting on FT...

I'm a private citizen here. I'm not here as a representative of the TSA in any way, though I do happen to work for them. So long as one does not post things which are SSI (no matter how much it pisses everyone else off when you answer a question with "Sorry, that's SSI...") then there's really not all that much that they can do. Freedom of expression and such.

And, otherwise, there's nothing they can nail me for. They can threaten me all they like, but I'd totally call their bluff ;) I've been with the TSA for entirely too long. Still, my management here in HSV has never shown any kind of negativity for what I do online. I wouldn't go so far as to say that they've been supportive of it, but it seems more like a hands-off approach.

You guys feed me the lingo and I will design pretty much anything.

I think they know that unlike most of the TSA people like you. They know if you get fired you will let us know and they will have to field the calls.

If you do, the space center is not just for kids. They have a Corporate Challenge program too. I've done it twice. Once in the right seat of the shuttle, once as Capcom. I did get brownie points as pilot for pointing out to ground control that my boss was still on the end of the robot arm and I thought we should go around instead of landing. They still made us land at Edwards AFB. Way too many toggle switches in that thing.

Odd that they'd simulate a re-entry with the payload bay doors open, but at least the inability to do a go-around is proper. Unless the decision you were calling for a go-around was one more orbit. I've got a couple of bosses I would have loved to torch on the end of the arm, or just hold back there in front of the OMS engines during a burn. Sort of like lighting a fart in reverse.

I think if I was terminated for the release of security-sensitive information, that they wouldn't care :P I just haven't been fired because I haven't screwed up, and my management doesn't care to attempt to limit my exercising of my freedom of speech otherwise.

That said, I'm not at odds with my management over this, or anything else for that matter. They're great guys, all of 'em, very fair and even-handed. One of the first things that they established was to be on a first-name basis with all of 'em. It's kind of strange calling my Federal Security Director by his first name like we're pals, but it does foster a more tightly-knit group of people.

The simulation is highly forgiving - it didn't even mind that I did not activate the fuel pumps in time for launch. It is not anything like a flight simulator. Supposedly they grade how accurate you are to the script you are given, but it is tough to learn in a 30 minute orientation - and it is based on how long you pay for. Some of the student ones last for days - no thanks.

Yes, FT does change our perceptions. Terms like Moat Dragon, WTMD, EQM, Mileage Run, become the most logical way of thinking about things we encounter.

I was transferring at CVG a few weeks ago, stopped to look at the monitor to see what gate my ORD flight would be leaving from. I couldn't find it, couldn't find any flights to ORD. Finally it dawned on me I had to look under "C" for "Chicago", not "O" for "ORD". Had to kick my self, but I was laughing...

The TSA version of Don't Ask, Don't Tell?

ummmm what else would you call him? I certainly don't call my agency Director "Mister Smith", never occured to me to do so.

^ on the moat dragon comment.

Darn us to heck???
 

Where is Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light?

With so many of us from the pocket protector set in HSV... shame on us for not adding this sooner.

Scuttlebutt says the Security Director down in BHM requires the employees to specifically call her "Mrs. Smith" or they're subject to being written up for... something.

Just rumors, though, that.

He's sitting at the front with his loupe-on-a-rope and his little Flashlight of Insufficient Light.