My brush with TSA

   / My brush with TSA #31  
A buddy of mine and I go to the Government Surplus Auction warehouse outside of Seattle. You can get some decent stuff there at times. They would have metal bins that were about 3'x4' square by about 2' deep full of knives confiscated at airports. We would by those for about $2 a pound. We would get some pretty good knives then. That was not long after the 9-11 thing and people were forgetting their knives on them.
I am glad the TSA is doing their job for the most part well. Coming back from Ecuador in February my daughter had broken her foot there. So we were tossing her on a wheelchair through the airports. They thought she looked risky (age 15) so had to run the wand and pat her down.. I wasn't so happy about hat part.

Hey Treemonkey, if you found a little red Swiss army knife in there, its mine and I want it back.
 
   / My brush with TSA #32  
Sorry Snaker yours and about 1000 other Swiss knives were in there. Pretty amazing to see the variety of knives in those tub skids.
 
   / My brush with TSA #33  
Someone mentioned that there are never any good TSA stories. I fly a lot(weekly). Every time I pass through the airport, there is a good TSA story.

If I couldn't fly, I would have to move. I can't fly if the airports aren't secure. I have been caught with a few stupid things(a metal cutting blade 10" long from reciprocating saw!). They checked out the rest of my bag, listened to my story, and let me pass(sans blade).

I have NEVER seen inappropriate behavior by the TSA. Not once. I have seen inappropriate behavior by passengers.

I am somewhat amused by the fear of the "body scan". The thought of some remote fella getting his jollies while viewing these scans is laughable. Seriously! Even if someone were to do something that bad, how would that effect the scanned person?

Making the TSA government run was a mistake for many reasons, but they are serving their purpose well. I would note that there has not been one American sourced incident on a plane since 9/11. Not one.

There will be another terrorist act with planes, but it is highly unlikely that it will be caused by the TSA not doing what they are being asked to do, unless a bunch a whiners decide to throw a big enough fit that they are given a unreachable mission. We can't expect the TSA to not frisk our whole body. If you don't like it, don't use communal transportation. It is that simple. The use of communal transportation without searches is not a constitutional right.

Chris
 
   / My brush with TSA #34  
Chris, maybe they wouldn't have such a bad reputation if they didn't do so many really stupid things. The last time my wife's aunt came to visit from California I think she was 89 years old, probably weighed 85 pounds, retired 2nd grade school teacher. On the return trip from DFW Airport, the idiots searched carefully and confiscated her little nail file. I'm not sure whether the TSA folks in California just missed the nail file when she came from there, or if they happen to have some reasonably intelligent people on the job out there.
 
   / My brush with TSA #35  
Your lucky, there was a story here a few weeks back that a guy flew from KC to the Bahamas with no problems. On his return trip they found a "SINGLE" bullet in his small bag. He had used the bag a before his trip to go to the range. The Bahama authorities arrested him and held him for several days before he paid a significant fine to be released.
 
   / My brush with TSA #36  
Bird,

The TSA is not allowed judgement on such items. The aunt lost her nail file. Should we now allow every passenger to debate the TSA every time they have done something out of code? That would be a disaster. The rules are simple, reasonable, and easy to enforce. We should not change such systems. I lost a set of pex tools(~200$) at the TSA. They were not dangerous. It was my fault. They were clearly outside the rules, and I was late for a flight I could not miss.

Catpicky,

Somebody carrying a bullet through a 2nd world country is an idiot, whether it was intentional or not(as are people who try to smuggle drugs through such airport). Airports in the Bahamas are not subject to TSA inspections.


I want them to be diligant. The TSA personell, as individuals, should never feel compelled to debate their actions, as long as they are within the rules. NEVER. The rules must be that simple. In all other scenarios, chaos reigns.

Chris
 
   / My brush with TSA #37  
Bird,

The TSA is not allowed judgement on such items. The aunt lost her nail file. Should we now allow every passenger to debate the TSA every time they have done something out of code? That would be a disaster. The rules are simple, reasonable, and easy to enforce. We should not change such systems. I lost a set of pex tools(~200$) at the TSA. They were not dangerous. It was my fault. They were clearly outside the rules, and I was late for a flight I could not miss.

Catpicky,

Somebody carrying a bullet through a 2nd world country is an idiot, whether it was intentional or not(as are people who try to smuggle drugs through such airport). Airports in the Bahamas are not subject to TSA inspections.


I want them to be diligant. The TSA personell, as individuals, should never feel compelled to debate their actions, as long as they are within the rules. NEVER. The rules must be that simple. In all other scenarios, chaos reigns.



Chris


I fly several times per year. I think the TSA is a big improvement over the rent a cops that previously did that job.
 
   / My brush with TSA #38  
The TSA personell, as individuals, should never feel compelled to debate their actions, as long as they are within the rules. NEVER. The rules must be that simple. In all other scenarios, chaos reigns.

You're kidding, right? An 89 year old woman should have known she couldn't take a nail file with her? And if the rules are so simple and the TSA personnel follow the rules, why did they not take the nail file when she left California?

I've even heard airline pilots complain about that mess, and if anyone should know the rules, it seems the pilots would.

I agree the individuals should not feel compelled to debate their actions; just as police officers should not. But it is nice when they have management that uses a little common sense in setting the rules. But sometimes that just doesn't happen.

But at least as far as the TSA is concerned, I don't think I have to worry about it, since I have no expectation of ever flying on a commercial airline again. It'll be a dire emergency if I do and I hope that never happens.:laughing:

I do occasionally have to take someone to the airport or pick up someone there, and get to see that ridiculous mess.
 
   / My brush with TSA #39  
you got off easy.. my insurance agent did essentially the same thing. he keeps a carry gun in his breif case for safety.. etc. he got an emergency call that required him to leave town on a red eye flight.. he completely forgot the gun.

he got cuffed and thrown tot he ground.. arrested.. spent time in jail, and got a MDM charge.

lost his CCL and had to reapply for it after his probation was up... :(
 
   / My brush with TSA #40  
Bird,

She lost her nail file. You are suggesting, for her sake, so she could keep it, a whole new class of rules, requiring a whole set of judgement trees, should be enacted. Surely you are the one who is kidding.

The TSA has gotten a bad reputation, unfairly. To repeat:

The US has not had a TSA related terrorist incident since 9/11. That is amazing.

I only need to arrive at the airport 45 minutes before my flight takes off to ensure I have enough time to check in. What more could we ask for? Should all of the TSA employees be pHD psychologists? I think not.

Think of all of the subjective calls a policman makes in their career. Think of how many of those calls are made correctly. A TSA agent standing at the baggage check makes that many calls in one day, and does it well enough that the terrrorist haven't even tried to repeat what they did before. They do it, subject to being undermined by the unreasonable comments/analysis thrown around daily by the unwashed.

What if I made judgment upon all police based upon the behavior of the worst 1% of officers, and I got the media to replay those stories daily for 2 years after they happened? Would I get away with that, or would Hades and damnation be poured upon my head for breaching the rule? What makes the current crop of TSA haters any different?

The incidents being publicized are the worst 0.0001% of interactions that occur daily at airport entrances. The subsequent analysis is unreasonable.

Americans wants special rules so that they can negotiate everything. We can't afford that. The best we can hope for is to be left alone.


Chris

P.S. You are correct, the TSA failure in your story was in California.
 
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