# TSA agent plants bag of powder on passenger. "It was just a joke." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 26, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534 "2010-01-26T17:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/21 "2010-01-26T21:12:01Z")
Since the establishment of TSA and its takeover of airport security, they are agents of the US government, at the level of “security guards at clubs or something.” I seem to recall that TSA screeners are required, by signs prominently posted in the screening area, to treat all passengers (screenees?) in a professional and courteous manner. Pulling a prank on someone that sends them into a panic, even for 20 seconds, is NOT (imnsho) professional nor courteous. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/22 "2010-01-26T21:15:01Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > I think I see where we disagree on this. You’re calling TSA a “proxy of the US government” whereas I liken them to “a security guard at a club or something.” The [Transportation Security Administration](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Security_Administration) is part of the Department of Homeland Security, so it is indeed not just a “proxy of”: it’s part of the US government. If it was a security guard at a private club, you could sue the pants off him for something like this – but an official of the federal government has layers of protection around him, including this “privacy policy”. So you’re seeing it as no big deal, but we’re seeing it as a failure of the federal government, which employed, trained and supervised him. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/23 "2010-01-26T21:18:29Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > I see it as some dufus colleague with a badge giving someone a hard time. Sure, he may have been a doofus, but his badge - and so much else these past years - give him tremendous power to fuck with someone. > [@](#): > > But even if she was thinking what you wrote, it was only 20 seconds. I’ve been more terrified than that by thinking “Did I leave the oven/iron/tub on when I left?!” You might not have been so concerned by this specific fact situation, but that does not mean every other reasonable person would have reacted similarly. One of the (many) things I dislike most about airline security is that it makes even innocent people feel like criminals. > [@](#): > > In general, I’d say they would have to take her into an inspection room, or make her do some other task (e.g. “stand over there and wait”) … For how many seconds? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/24 "2010-01-26T21:21:29Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > [Slovak security test loses explosives.](http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2010/01/07/slovak_airport_security_test_assailed/) > > An innocent passenger wound up with explosives hidden in his luggage by security agents as a test. > > There have been similar stories in past years. Why don’t they use an undercover agent to do these kinds of tests? A few more. [http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-12-15-fake-explosives\_x.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-12-15-fake-explosives_x.htm) [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/international/europe/07paris.html?pagewanted=print&position=](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/international/europe/07paris.html?pagewanted=print&position=) [http://www.halifaxlive.com/security\_test\_05092004\_7322.php](http://www.halifaxlive.com/security_test_05092004_7322.php) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/25 "2010-01-26T21:31:21Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > overreact to the misuse of authority. That’s an oxymoron. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/26 "2010-01-26T21:39:39Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > his badge…give him tremendous power to fuck with someone. But see, that’s the thing. From the inside looking out, I don’t think that’s true. I, too, have tremendous power to fuck with people via my badge. But I don’t, because I’m a normal person. But even if I tried, my supervisor would put the kaibosh on that immediately. And if he didn’t, _his_ boss would. See, there are so many cogs in the machinery that one of us doesn’t have enough power to truly screw with people the way you think we can. For example, let’s say the guy REALLY had it in for this girl. He’d try to send her to screening or something. The agent has to provide a reason for the detainment. “She looked funny” isn’t enough reason. And if he wanted to do something else to her, there are a bunch of other people that would need to be in on it, and they’d need to go through a lot of checks and balances to pull it off. There are people that watch you (like TSA). I watch them, people watch me, and people watch those people. So let this be a lesson to you: If a TSA agent ever starts to fuck with you, don’t start crying. They probably don’t have the power to do those horrifying things you think they do. The lady in the story was never in any real danger, and the abuser was justly punished. What more can you realistically ask for in such a huge system? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/27 "2010-01-26T21:43:01Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > That’s an oxymoron. Of course. Every time a police officer is a jerk, everytime a TSA agent does something stupid, and everytime a transit worker falls asleep, we must grab our torches and pitchforks!! We must leap atop our high horse and scream with unassailable righteous indignation!!! We must call not just for their jobs, but for their public beating!!! LIVES MUST BE RUINED!!! Because there is no middle ground!!! There are no stupid mistakes!!! There is only ABUSE OF AUTHORITY, and it must be dealt with wailing and gnashing of teeth. WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN!!! ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/28 "2010-01-26T21:53:26Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Of course. Every time a police officer is a jerk, everytime a TSA agent does something stupid, and everytime a transit worker falls asleep, we must grab our torches and pitchforks!! We must leap atop our high horse and scream with unassailable righteous indignation!!! We must call not just for their jobs, but for their public beating!!! LIVES MUST BE RUINED!!! Because there is no middle ground!!! There are no stupid mistakes!!! There is only ABUSE OF AUTHORITY, and it must be dealt with wailing and gnashing of teeth. WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN!!! No. He was fired, that’s what should happen when someone does a thing so monumentally stupid. The system worked. However, I for one reserve the right to call him (the TSA guy) an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/29 "2010-01-26T21:56:03Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Of course. Every time a police officer is a jerk, everytime a TSA agent does something stupid, and everytime a transit worker falls asleep, we must grab our torches and pitchforks!! We must leap atop our high horse and scream with unassailable righteous indignation!!! We must call not just for their jobs, but for their public beating!!! LIVES MUST BE RUINED!!! Because there is no middle ground!!! There are no stupid mistakes!!! There is only ABUSE OF AUTHORITY, and it must be dealt with wailing and gnashing of teeth. WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN!!! _pat, pat_ There, there. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/30 "2010-01-26T22:09:00Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > _pat, pat_ There, there. Whew. Thanks. I got a bit excited there. Because we both know overreactions and misuse of authority are mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/31 "2010-01-26T22:38:01Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN!!! I will, as soon as it gets to the top of my Netflix queue. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/32 "2010-01-26T22:38:23Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Jesus, people. I was expecting to read about someone being detained and possibly strip searched because an agent slipped something into a bag to “mess with” his buddy at the scanner. But jeez, he just freaked her out for 20 seconds. > > I agree with “highly inappropriate and unprofessional” but, seriously, “such a violation”? How scared can you possibly be by a 20-second inquiry? The guy should have been fired, but I really can’t see justification for suing him. This is less newsworthy and less frightening than Air Force One’s little Manhatten photo op. So what’s the time limit for panicing an innocent civilian that can be covered by the “It was just a joke.” disclaimer? 20 seconds seems to be good. I’ll go ahead and state that an hour is too long. I’ll venture that the young lady is a fair representative of the majority of us. Limited adverse contact with law enforcement. Probably only ever had speeding tickets. No reason to expect a confrontation for any period of time with a TSA representative. Suddenly being confronted with a little bag of white powder found in her own luggage and a glaring official. Going from expecting to board a plane with no problems to looking at a felony charge in about two seconds. Just kidding.. _snicker_ Somewhere between 20 seconds and an hour needless stress and panic right now. What’s acceptable without raising hue and cry? Let’s look at the TSA guidebook. Zero tolerance. Zero exceptions. I’m gonna have to go with… You guessed it. Zero. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/33 "2010-01-26T22:45:49Z")
Can I pit the writer of the article for being hyperbolic? > [@](#): > > In the tense new world of air travel, we’re stripped of shoes, told not to take too much shampoo on board, **frowned on if we crack a smile**. Emphasis added. The vast majority of the TSA staff I’ve encountered have been nothing but polite, helpful, professional, and friendly. In college, when I was traveling with a be-stickered laptop, I even had at least one screener comment positively on the [Bush Lies: Who Dies?](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/39/108342109_0f6f3785d1.jpg?v=0) one. > [@Kobal2](#): > > That’s an oxymoron. Pretty sure you meant “That’s redundant,” unless you were trying to say that it’s impossible for authority to be misused. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/34 "2010-01-26T23:01:59Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Pretty sure you meant “That’s redundant,” unless you were trying to say that it’s impossible for authority to be misused. I meant to say it’s impossible to overreact to blatant misuse of authority - any reaction short of demanding the misuser be immediately shit-canned is apathy. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/35 "2010-01-27T01:48:09Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > But see, that’s the thing. From the inside looking out, I don’t think that’s true. I, too, have tremendous power to fuck with people via my badge. But I don’t, because I’m a normal person. But even if I tried, my supervisor would put the kaibosh on that immediately. And if he didn’t, _his_ boss would. See, there are so many cogs in the machinery that one of us doesn’t have enough power to truly screw with people the way you think we can. Gee - thanks for the lesson. So now at exactly what point in the airport screening process, when you are standing there in your stocking feet, surrounded by warnings that cracking a joke may be a federal offense, possibly with riot geared offers bearing automatic weapons in the vicinity - is that infallible system of checks and balances made clear to the average traveller. I am 48 years old, white, male, an attorney, and a federal employee. And I feel somewhat intimidated in such situations. I think you underestimate the effect on an “average” individual. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/36 "2010-01-27T02:50:43Z")
Meh. They’re rent-a-cops. Where are the hippies of old who put flowers in gun barrels? Now we’re all apparently terrified by the weakest incarnation of “the man”. Even metermaids are more scary. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/37 "2010-01-27T03:02:55Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > Where are the hippies of old who put flowers in gun barrels? Watch the beginning of _Watchmen._ ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/38 "2010-01-27T03:12:53Z")
you’re willingly putting someone in the position of having to disprove a negative. it’s abusive, low, and even if it’s done for a second, it’s utterly wrong. And this isn’t even beginning to color the scenario in with the circumstances of the incident: at an airport security screen 11 days after the christmas shoe bomber attempt. Camp X-Ray (now known as Camp Delta) may actually have some usefulness to it - let’s not close it quite yet, Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/39 "2010-01-27T03:23:04Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > Where are the hippies of old who put flowers in gun barrels? My mom was/is one of those hippies. She’s also a part time TSA agent. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534/40 "2010-01-27T03:50:14Z")
> [@Lord\_Ashtar](#): > > My mom was/is one of those hippies. She’s also a part time TSA agent. Well, see? Your mom isn’t scary (at least until she breaks out the candle wax). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-agent-plants-bag-of-powder-on-passenger-it-was-just-a-joke/526534.md?page=3)