Compilation of Spotting and Behavior Analysis techniques
Mar 10, 2009 | 1:49 pm
#16
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 576
But for those of you who think that you are continually being monitored for the slightest reaction and have to have pre-rehearsed lines to make it through the checkpoint without being "detected" you are reading far too much into things! Don't forget - behaving like that just means they have won 
Mar 10, 2009 | 3:53 pm
#18
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Upstate NY or FL or inbetween
Programs: US former CP Looking for a new airline to love me
Posts: 1,693
If I ever need to feel lucky, I read threads like this. In the last 24 months I have passed through TSA checkpoints approx. 267 times, in 40+ different airports around the US. I don't hold a US passport, almost always just have carry-on bags (and therefore have packed a reasonable amount into them) and I can confirm that:
1. I have never once had any more interaction with a TSA agent other than "stop. go. let me check the size of that liquid container. let me see your boarding pass."
2. Never once have I been asked about my travel plans, where I'm coming from, where I'm going, what sort of mood I'm in, who I'm going to see, etc.
....
1. I have never once had any more interaction with a TSA agent other than "stop. go. let me check the size of that liquid container. let me see your boarding pass."
2. Never once have I been asked about my travel plans, where I'm coming from, where I'm going, what sort of mood I'm in, who I'm going to see, etc.
....
I told her to stop and get a supe. Supe listened to my rant and asked what she was looking for; she replied, this is a direct quote "I'm looking for a blob."Used to be back in the days of the leather bookmark terrorist threat at TPA, I'd have horrible experiences at TPA and MCO; in contrast SYR seemed educated and polite. These days the roles are reversed; TPA and MCO pax security are predictable and manage to stay just mildly annoying, SYR has completely lost all common sense; a commodity already in very short supply where TSA is concerned.
Mar 10, 2009 | 6:10 pm
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Point Place, Wisconsin
Programs: LH HON, BA Gold, EK Gold
Posts: 14,508
If I ever need to feel lucky, I read threads like this. In the last 24 months I have passed through TSA checkpoints approx. 267 times, in 40+ different airports around the US. I don't hold a US passport, almost always just have carry-on bags (and therefore have packed a reasonable amount into them) and I can confirm that:
1. I have never once had any more interaction with a TSA agent other than "stop. go. let me check the size of that liquid container. let me see your boarding pass."
2. Never once have I been asked about my travel plans, where I'm coming from, where I'm going, what sort of mood I'm in, who I'm going to see, etc.
Having said that, I think the whole process is incredibly inefficient compared with travel through airports in virtually any country in the world (I recently spent a while in East Africa and was shocked at how polite and painless the whole airport process was) - there is a lot they could learn in the US. But for those of you who think that you are continually being monitored for the slightest reaction and have to have pre-rehearsed lines to make it through the checkpoint without being "detected" you are reading far too much into things! Don't forget - behaving like that just means they have won
1. I have never once had any more interaction with a TSA agent other than "stop. go. let me check the size of that liquid container. let me see your boarding pass."
2. Never once have I been asked about my travel plans, where I'm coming from, where I'm going, what sort of mood I'm in, who I'm going to see, etc.
Having said that, I think the whole process is incredibly inefficient compared with travel through airports in virtually any country in the world (I recently spent a while in East Africa and was shocked at how polite and painless the whole airport process was) - there is a lot they could learn in the US. But for those of you who think that you are continually being monitored for the slightest reaction and have to have pre-rehearsed lines to make it through the checkpoint without being "detected" you are reading far too much into things! Don't forget - behaving like that just means they have won
Mar 10, 2009 | 6:39 pm
#22
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Upstate NY or FL or inbetween
Programs: US former CP Looking for a new airline to love me
Posts: 1,693
I would assume she was talking of an indistinct, shaded area on the X-Ray image, or, in finest TSA technical terms, a "blob". The supe seemed to understand her techno-speak. Clearly a "blob" is grounds for the wallet grab.
Mar 10, 2009 | 7:11 pm
#23
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: STL, CPS
Programs: AA LT Plat
Posts: 977
I am a figure skating judge. I often get flown in and out of a location same day to judge figs tests and what have you. Rinks are cold, even in summer.Nothing points their little ears like a lady of a certain age flying out of STL in the summer lugging a winter coat.
Something else fun: Neccos. Apparently rolls of neccos make an interesting shape that make them want to explore one's bag. I have been accused of all sorts of things for carrying neccos.
Something else fun: Neccos. Apparently rolls of neccos make an interesting shape that make them want to explore one's bag. I have been accused of all sorts of things for carrying neccos.
Mar 10, 2009 | 7:31 pm
#24
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Berlin and Buggenhagen, Germany
Posts: 3,509
If I ever need to feel lucky, I read threads like this. In the last 24 months I have passed through TSA checkpoints approx. 267 times, in 40+ different airports around the US. I don't hold a US passport, almost always just have carry-on bags (and therefore have packed a reasonable amount into them) and I can confirm that:
1. I have never once had any more interaction with a TSA agent other than "stop. go. let me check the size of that liquid container. let me see your boarding pass."
2. Never once have I been asked about my travel plans, where I'm coming from, where I'm going, what sort of mood I'm in, who I'm going to see, etc.
Having said that, I think the whole process is incredibly inefficient compared with travel through airports in virtually any country in the world (I recently spent a while in East Africa and was shocked at how polite and painless the whole airport process was) - there is a lot they could learn in the US. But for those of you who think that you are continually being monitored for the slightest reaction and have to have pre-rehearsed lines to make it through the checkpoint without being "detected" you are reading far too much into things! Don't forget - behaving like that just means they have won
1. I have never once had any more interaction with a TSA agent other than "stop. go. let me check the size of that liquid container. let me see your boarding pass."
2. Never once have I been asked about my travel plans, where I'm coming from, where I'm going, what sort of mood I'm in, who I'm going to see, etc.
Having said that, I think the whole process is incredibly inefficient compared with travel through airports in virtually any country in the world (I recently spent a while in East Africa and was shocked at how polite and painless the whole airport process was) - there is a lot they could learn in the US. But for those of you who think that you are continually being monitored for the slightest reaction and have to have pre-rehearsed lines to make it through the checkpoint without being "detected" you are reading far too much into things! Don't forget - behaving like that just means they have won
I disagree with "behaving like that just means they have won". If one believes that this entire TSA thing is just a theatre to pretend security and a way to give jobs out and to privatize public funds by spending them on certain equipment, like I do, then anything that undermines the system and shows its inefficiency and pointlessness is good. If one simply let's them do all they want, just out of convenience and without critically questioning the whys and what fors, then they have indeed won.