Confessions Of an Ex-TSA Agent: Secrets Of the I.O. Room 393
Jason Edward Harrington has seen some of the same frustrations, misgivings, and objections that have crossed the mind of probably every commercial airline traveler who's flown over the last decade in the U.S. One difference: Harrington got to see them from the perspective of a TSA agent. His description of the realities of the job (including learning the rote responses that agents are instructed to reassure the public with) is wince-worthy and compelling. A sample makes it clear why the TSA has such famously low morale, even among Federal agencies: "I hated it from the beginning. It was a job that had me patting down the crotches of children, the elderly and even infants as part of the post-9/11 airport security show. I confiscated jars of homemade apple butter on the pretense that they could pose threats to national security. I was even required to confiscate nail clippers from airline pilots—the implied logic being that pilots could use the nail clippers to hijack the very planes they were flying." It only gets worse from there.
In All Fairness (Score:4, Funny)
... confiscated jars of homemade apple butter on the pretense that they could pose threats to national security.
In all fairness, if I got a job as a TSA agent, and my bosses told me that jars of homemade apple butter could be a threat, I for one would take their word for it. I might post on slashdot hoping some educted chemists could debunk the issue, but I wouldn't presume to know that apple butter didn't happen to be a great masking material for some other explosive material.
Re:well i'm reassured! (Score:3, Funny)
Did he mention Obama, or was that a revealing slip on your part?
I'm assuming the latter, and its good to know you understand where the problem is, even if you can't bring yourself to admit it in public.
Re:and the TSA exists because... (Score:2, Funny)
I always opt out. Midway in Chicago the TSA agent got really really mad at me, of course there was an hour line for the checkpoints. Everywhere else they didn't seem to care. I keep threatening to shoot my black powder pistol just before going to the airport one day, see if their residue checker actually works (I would think black powder would be the first thing they check for).
Re:and the TSA exists because... (Score:5, Funny)
Traveling is stressful. If you opt out you get a free message. What's not to like?
Re:and the TSA exists because... (Score:4, Funny)
Now that's a clever euphemism for a pat down.
Re:well i'm reassured! (Score:5, Funny)
And we didn't lose Vietnam. It was a tie!
Re:well i'm reassured! (Score:4, Funny)
The military is too expensive for its efficiency and as a European, I don't even want to comment on your roads.
After driving a bit around the US I finally figured out why SUVs are so popular. A compact would probably vanish in the potholes on your highways.