So are all women “cunts” to you, or just ones that own vibrators? Or maybe just ones that have opinions about things?
Going from just your OP I was feeling little sympathy for this TSA worker, then I read what the note actually said and felt no sympathy at all. It wasn’t “Whoops, we thought this might be a bomb” or something, it was “GET YOUR FREAK ON GIRL”. That’s the kind of thing that may be appropriate to say to a friend, but coming from an anonymous security worker is freaking creepy. If TSA workers want to have a little laugh amongst themselves when they find sex toys or other interesting items in people’s baggage then that’s one thing, but in their interactions with the public they should remain professional. Leaving Ms. Filipovic any kind of personal note at all was questionable, as I don’t believe that’s TSA’s usual practice. I’ve never even received something innocent like a “HAVE A NICE DAY!” or “ENJOY YOUR TRIP!”, and I certainly would not be expecting comments about my personal possessions much less a “humorous” remark about my sexual behavior.
The OP is so wildly back-asswards as to which party is worthy of outrage that I really have to believe we are all being whooshed and the whole thing’s pure sarcasm. I shudder to consider the alternative.
I’m all for unprofessionalism in the workplace, a lot of the time it’s the only way to get by. And I’m totally down with irreverernce - but this really went over the line.
TSA person: funny but completely unprofessional, firing inevitable.
Huh. A thread sympathizing with the TSA. Can the OP make me care? clicks Nope. Except that I now think the OP is a creepy person with no social skills.
Raging cunt gets TSA employee fired
What’s the difference between a feminist blogger who defends her sexual dignity, and a Pygmy who trains his dog in a wire enclosure?
I have defended the TSA on a number of things, including the full body scanners. The assumption I make is that sensitive things like looking at those sorts of images, frisking someone, or going through their bags can be reasonable security precautions if they are done professionally, and that those who do not act in an adult manner with their responsibilities will be dealt with.
Note to TSA bag-searchers: if you must succumb to your urge to make merry, go the fortune-cookie route and leave a note saying “Help! I’m an undereducated, poorly trained drone trapped in a bloated and inefficient bureaucracy!”
And I’m quite sure they do indeed laugh about some of these things. I know doctors laugh about the various things people come into the ER to have removed from their asses, or some of the more amusing/bizarre body modifications they see, but they do their laughing in private. They don’t sit there in the exam room smirking at someone’s penis tattoo and say “So what’s wrong with Mr. Cherry Buster today?” Doing so would result in reports being filed with their boss and the medical review board, and rightly so.
I think the TSA agent exercised extremely poor judgment. He did not have a relationship with this woman that allows for this kind of joking or mild flirting or whatever he thought he was doing.
I don’t have an opinion on whether he should have been fired or maybe just written up, because I don’t know enough about his work history. If this was his first screw up and he’s been an agent for 30 years, I might suggest some sensitivity training instead, but who knows.
He did something pretty stupid. That is for sure. As for the female, she certainly has done nothing wrong up to this point. And absolutely does not deserve to be labeled a cunt for being offended by his stupidity.
If I had gotten that note in my bag, I would have laughed and been done with it.
But there’s one thing to know, in a theoretical sense, that your bags will be pawed through. It’s another to actually get confirmation of it. I don’t like the idea of the contents of my bags being conversation fodder at the water cooler. It wouldn’t be enough to keep me from flying, but I could see that–along with all the other crap we have to put up with at the airport–persuading someone to go “Fuck it!” and take the train from now on.
So it’s possible to find humor in what the TSA person did and still think it was an infraction serious enough for them to be fired.
TBH, while I do think what the TSA guy did is mondo creepy and unprofessional, I don’t think he deserved to get shitcanned over it.
It’s not like he wanked on her clothes or something - it’s just the equivalent of the checkout guy making comments on your purchases as he scans them. Yes, it’s extremely annoying but, you know, whatevs. Were I his supervisor, I’d just take him to my office, scream at him for about half an hour then release him on the assumption that shit like this wouldn’t ever, ever happen again. And if it does, yes, by all means, fire the goddamn idiot.
Speaking of which, OP, consider yourself screamed at for half an hour.
Then again, tempest in a teapot scandals like this always seem to involve a kind of Dark Vador-ish response from the higher ups, most often under pressure from the out-for-blood onlookers who haven’t got thing one to do with anything. “You have failed me, under the bus with you”. I don’t really get it.