A Completely Different Screening Experience
 

I was screened yesterday at TLV and at EWR. TVL was wonderful. There were two people working the screening position. One sat behind the monitor and the other came forward to help me. Smiling, very polite. No shouting. Helped me arrange my items. I didn't have to take out my Kippie bag nor my camera. Just my laptop. Helped me put it in a bin. I took off my vest (loaded with electronics) and he put it in a bin for me.

At EWR, completely different experience. A woman TSO yelled at me because I wasn't moving my bins along as I unpacked all the junk: Kippie bag, laptop, camera, vest, jacket, shoes, and loaded my carryon bag and backpack. I told people behind me to go around me. I was trying to take up as little space as possible at the end of the table because I need about five bins. She just stood there, yelling at me. I ignored her basically because if I had moved my stuff along as I unpacked (a difficult task) I would have arrived at the screening machine without all my stuff in its proper position. How much does it take to have a little care and courtesy? Obviously more than TSA is willing to expend.

It is as simple as a mindset. When I was manager of a field office for a nonprofit, I taught my employees basic skills: smile, listen, help. TSA's approach seems to be indimidate, yell, don't listen, and for heaven's sake, don't help. This is why Americans who fly hate TSA.

It's also as simple as training and hiring. TLV is wonderful. TSA? Not so much.

Having said that, I have a thread in here somewhere about my experience at TLV. The people were polite, professional and friendly. And logical. But you need to get to the airport so early for screening that travel is difficult for an entirely different reason.

What we need is TLV attitude and USA timing. It's not impossible, but the TSA needs to increase its hiring and training standards.

Mike

You state that the first part of your experience with the TSA was pleasant and helpful, an overall enjoyable experience as far as that kind of experience can be, and the second part as completely unpleasant. Yet the in commentary at the end of your post you lump both experiences into the same bag and complain about the whole thing as if they were both the same way. Was it your intent to ignore the difference between the two experiences and focus on only the second as the total sum of your screening experience, or was this an oversight, a part of the human condition that is honestly difficult to put to the side and not allow to color one’s perception?

I appreciate that half of your time at the checkpoint was not negative, but to ignore that and place the focus on the other half and make the commentary you did is less than fair, to the readers here, to the TSA, and to those who were helpful and pleasant.

The first part of my post was about an experience NOT with TSA but at Tel Aviv (TLV). TLV is not run by TSA. Read the post and you will understand what I was saying.

;)

TSAron: Try reading the post BEFORE commenting.

Wow, twice in two days. Yesterday it was LHR, today TLV. In your immortal words:
Oh, now I see what TSORon was focusing on. In the second sentence of the OP's initial post, he stated: "TVL was wonderful." I am sure that TSORon was picking up on that being Lake Tahoe (of course the other instances in this thread have been overwhelmingly "TLV.")

You'll have to forgive Ron. He's too busy pointing out others' spelling mistakes to actually read the substance of the posts he's commenting on. ;)

TLV did what is expected from security and EWR didn't. Flew through Helsinki and Schiphol and the security experience was quite pleasant. At Schiphol a member of the aircrew asked if I was hurrying to the flight to Spain. A quick "no, but thank you anyway," and a smile was quite pleasant.

At Schiphol and Helsinki the thing I noticed the most was how quiet the airport was when they don't have droning messages over the PA system. Nice.

Why can't our security measures be respectful of both people and their belongings when other countries (some with a much higher rate of both foreign and domestic terrorism) manage to pull it off?

TSARon may think TSA runs the world, luckily it is not the case and in other countries security can be done in a logical and professional manner, not what TSA moronic approach is.

They're just so nice at Tel Aviv. The attitude is always, "We want to do everything we can to keep you safe, and to make sure that you like it here enough to come back."

They laughed at me earlier this year when I started to take off my jacket. "We can tell who is American," they joked.

My sister was recently there with her toddler, and they did everything possible to make life easier for her.

Their goal is to keep everyone safe; intimidation and rules are not part of their mission.

TLV? That must be Tiny Little Vermont. :p

You will also have to forgive a person with a USA Centric Only view of the world and no desire to learn about the other parts of the aviation industry which he is connected to. Who sees no need and has no desire to learn airport codes of major destinations, even though it would help him in his job and prevent "D'oh" level statements on FT. ;)

Quote from the Snooker Cue thread in TSS: "So, I'm now required to memorize the 3 letter codes for all 9495 airports around the world? You first, and let me know how that goes." said one "TSORon".

$6.8 billion last year spent by TSA and what do we get? Federalized and Professionalized as promised? Or TSARobbed.

I am bumping this, hoping that TSORon might apologize for his "less than fair" response to my posting. Of course, I don't expect one.

Don't you know that TSORon never responds when others point out that the statements he made were wrong, even when the other reps of the TSA whom most of us respect point out that he is wrong? I wonder what it's like in TSORon world? I don't think it's a happy place.

And you believe that you will never get that kind of experience here in the USA. Hmmm, how sad for you.

http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/20...ease_0571.shtm

And I see this report every year, which is always far more positive than negative. Sure, we have areas we can improve, and we work on those daily, its an ongoing process.

TSA partners with most foreign governments to help maintain security in the air. Israeli as well as Russian.

I have a question for you though. If you by had had a knife in your pocket, just how friendly do you think those Israeli screeners would have been?