...and a great big "Fuck You" to the TSA

The BBQ Pit
21

First, that really sucks that you lost your pictures. I NEVER check anything besides cloths and cheap toiletries - all electronics and valuable items go in my carry-on. They may search it every once in awhile, but at least I can watch them do it.

Somewhat of a hijack.

I have a pair of super-cheap sandles from payless - there is not an ounce of metal in them - they don’t even have buckles, opting instead for velcro stitched to the fake leather. So, I like to wear them when I fly, 'cause I know they’ll go through the metal detector.

So, this time, when I went through the Richmond airport, the Rule of the Day was that passengers sort of have to take off they’re shoes, but not really. Confused? So was I. TSA1 was a dude sorting stuff into the containers to go into the X-Ray. TSA2 was the woman standing at the metal detector saying “step through.”

TSA1: We recommend that you take your shoes off.
Me: No, thanks, I’ll be fine.
TSA1: (immediatly stops what he’s doing, as if he can’t believe I’m not already on one foot clawing my bomb-laden sandles off) Sir. We recommend that you take your shoes off.
Me: So, I have to take my shoes off?
TSA1: No, you don’t have to, but we highly recommend that you take your shoes off.
Me: (puzzled, wondering if “recommend” suddenly means something different in Bush’s America) Ok, I heard you. I’ll be fine.

At this point, I start marching towards the metal detector. TSA2 does an obviously practiced leap in front of the archway, spreading her arms to prevent me from going through. She repeats the now very tired line about recommending that I take my shoes off.

Me: (angrilly dumping shoes into a bin) If I have to take my shoes off, just make it a rule! Tell me that I have to take my shoes off!
TSA1: You don’t have to take off your shoes, we just recommend…

Argh!

I’m 100% that if I had forced their bluff and gone through with shoes on, I would have gone through a full manual search.

buttonjockey308, that’s a really scary story.

22

Is there any way to have the back areas where the checked luggage is searched, broadcast on closed circuit TV, where passengers can watch their baggage go through? Would this make too much sense?

23

I think I’m going to be eating a lot of crow in the next few days.

Palikia, being smarter and more streetwise than I’ll ever be, had some thoughts after seeing this thread. She then got on the phone and made many phone calls while I was at work.

I may soon have to fully retract my OP, and offer my sincere apologies to the TSA.

Here is a part of her email to me, forwarded with her permission:

I think I have fallen into the spiral of thought where, as buttonjockey308 put it so well:

This may all be about my own fuckup. And blaming the government is so damn easy these days… And I picked on an easy target, even. My suitcase had its zippers held together with a plastic cable tie, easily cut, just because I didn’t want any locks broken, and my bag was overstuffed with food items at that point, and after checking around, I can now sort of understand why they had to cut the tie and check. Three cans of pate and a bunch of dirty socks might look like a bomb to them, it seems. I had missed the whole warning about packing food in checked bags, damnit.

So, as of right now, my OP is most probably incorrect.

My reactionary posts to this point depress me, as it sems I really have lost faith in the basic honesty of my fellow countrimen. And that’s not something to be proud of.

While I am still sure that many abuses and terible things are happening in this country, I can not, in any way, say I have been a true victim of current policies. Apart from my knee-jerk reatcion at such an easy target making me look like a fool.

So I’m either getting my camera back after all, or someone else’s. At this point, it looks like it’s all on me. My mistake, and maybe there will be some dopefest pics after all… I have no idea what to do if they send me the wrong camera.

After previewing, I want to add:

My bag was not opened and searched in my presence.

And the “Shoe rule” was “Take them off. If you don’t, you will subjected to a much more personial search.”

I’m gonna wear the 18-hole Doc Marten’s next time I fly, just because.

24

Yesterday morning, I was the first person in line to check my bags and get a boarding pass. I had a mild disagreement with the airline employee who performed those functions–I basically told him to mind his own damn business concerning something that was none of his damn business. I saw him make a hand signal to the baggage screeners and that resulted in both my bags being opened and thoroughly searched. One bag was opened by a jerk who believed in the intimidation method of personal relationships while the other was opened by a person who seemed to be genuinely embarrassed at being forced to search my bags. When I asked the first person what he was looking for, he became even more jerkish and informed me that he didn’t have to answer any questions from me and that he didn’t have to be looking for anything in particular—he could damn well search any bag he wanted to and for any or no reason. In the meantime, people were stacking up waiting to pass their luggage through the screener—the only two employees on duty were searching my luggage under the scrutiny of their supervisor. All because a prick of an airline person hadn’t had his morning coffee.

25

LouisB, I know it’s none o’ my damn business, but I’d be interested to hear what question or disagreement you and the employee had.

Here’s a confidence booster–because my husband is super-paranoid about being late for flights, we ended up checking into our domestic one hour, ten minute duration flight three hours early. We were given boarding passes with the fun checkered flags because it certainly is suspicious to check in so early when you’re flying Southwest. The other members of our party were also flagged because of this, [I assume–I know the extra screening flagging is supposed to be random, but I have noticed some patterns] even they didn’t check in until much, much later.
One member of our party had forgotten to remove a gun from his traveling toiletries bag. It went through a couple different x-ray screenings and was passed. Then the bag was hand searched, and lucky for the sterling reputation of the TSA, the searcher actually managed to find the 12"x6"x9" gun case in the 24"x12"x18" bag after a minute or so of poking through the shaving cream, hairspray, shampoo, and spare underwear.
When he found the case, he looked curious, when he opened it, he looked like he was going to wet himself.

But at least he found it. You can take the anecdote either way: the TSA is doing its job and keeping weapons off of planes, or whoops, by the merest quirk of fate, a TSA agent managed to do his job. However the mood takes you when you read this.

26

Oddly enough, yesterday’s flight was the first domestic one I’ve taken since 9/11 for which I was *not * searched. I even refused to take off my shoes; I have a plate in my leg, and I limp noticeably when barefoot, plus I knew this particular pair of shoes won’t set off the metal detectors. The staff at O’Hare were actually quite polite and professional about it, but the supervisor (after I explained about my leg) told me I had “almost” set off the metal detector. Does anyone know what the heck he meant by that? I thought either you set it off, or you don’t. Isn’t that like being a little bit pregnant?

27

If you look at the top of most metal detectors (at least last time I went through), on the side facing the workers, there’s a little light-up bar doohickey that, I think, measures the amount of metal it’s detected. So maybe you got it up into yellow (it goes green-yellow-red) or something.

28

I flew on 9/11 this year. In a US airport that shall not be named, the carpet on which I had to stand, unshod, was damp and clammy from the many feet before me. It was quite disgusting. I too was given a “choice” about having my shoes X-rayed, but it was clearly not a real choice.

I have been much happier with the airports that X-ray my checked luggage while I stand there, then have me unlock them if a search is required, or leave them locked otherwise. The distinction between inspection and tampering then becomes much clearer.

29

The ticket was booked by a potential employer using my middle name of “Louis”. My driver’s license, which I used for ID, lists my name as “Russell L. Lastname.” The airline person told me that on future flights, the name on my ticket HAD to match the name on my ID. I informed him that I had other ID, including a passport and a copy of my birth certificate which listed my middle name and that I did not believe the name on my ticket had to match the name on my driver’s license. He insisted that it did and I asked why it had never been mentioned before, especially in view of the fact that I was on the return leg of a fairly lengthy trip involving multi airplane changes, multi security screenings and multi interactions with airline employees.
He then informed me that I might well be pulled aside for questioning and, sure enough, I was----but only because of spite on his part. I suspect he was cranky because it was 5:30AM, but then again, I was cranky for the same reason.

30

I know of one pattern for sure. Because my wife is an airline employee we fly “none rev” (meaning we don’t pay). When we receive our passes they are always tagged so that we receive the full search treatment. Since there is a quota, this cuts down on the number of paying customers that have to be searched. I really don’t mind, except for the fact that nobody wants to fess up to it. If the searching is to try and catch a terrorist then this practice is not helping. If it is just to harass a certain percentage of the passengers then I’ll gladly go thru the searches, especially since by now it has become second nature. But they should be honest about why I am always “randomly” chosen. :frowning:

31

Just got home from NY: can I add my big, heart “Fuck You” to this thread?

This makes 2 for 2 checked bags/bags opened and searched AFTER they were X-rayed in my presence by the TSA.

The first time was my guitar hard case: I don’t know how they could have been unable to figure out what my guitar was by X-raying the case, but hey, at least a) there was an electronic tuner in there, and if one does not play an instrument, I can see how that might look suspicious on an X-ray; and b) they didn’t bust the lock on the case; they apparently picked it, left a note apologizing for having to unlock the case, and politely re-locked it (it wouldn’t have stayed shut unless it were locked).

This time, however, it was a regular soft-sided suitcase, with the usual clothes, books, etc. in there. I had put a pitifully insubstantial lock on the suitcase, pureley as a deterrent against random petty theft; you could probably have busted the darn thing with wire cutters if needed.

But no…they apparently just had to cut up the zipper pulls, too, so now I can never re-lock the suitcase again. Unless I have the zipper replaced, which will probably cost more than I paid for the fucking suitcase. They couldn’t just cut the lock; no, apparently ruiningmy suitcase is a matter of national security. So should I write the TSA and bitch them out? Or will they just say they did what they had to do, and put me on some fucking list where I am strip-searched every time I want to board a plane for the rest of my life?

Fuck it; I was trying to be considerate by checking the bag, because I thought it might be a little big for the overhead compartment. Next time I’m going to be like one of those business-traveling schmucks who carries on everything but the kitchen sink; screw consideration.

32

To be honest, I can’t see that he did anything wrong here. It’s always been clear to me (including prior to 9/11) that you have to book your flight tickets in the exact name of your passport/ID. There is little point in checking ID against records if they are likely to be different, however marginal.

Also, can I just express a :eek: at the person who details that their friend forgot that he was packing a gun! Is this a whoosh or can I again be grateful for living in the UK and not somewhere where this is just ‘one of those things’?!!

33

I too work for an airline, but with mine, I have yet to be tagged. I was told that since I have to pass pretty regular security clearance checks to get/keep my job that it would be pointless to search me.