my most recent TSA experience
We just got back from a long weekend in Oklahoma and it started off a little strange - on our way out from Sea-Tac the TSA folks weren't belligerently yelling at everyone in the security line while we were waiting to be checked. Have they gotten the message that we're pretty annoyed they think 1/4-inch thick flip-flops are harboring a lethal weapon (all the while they didn't check the dagger-like hair-clip of the woman in front of me)? And that yelling at everyone that "catch and release time is over" isn't helping our desire to respond positively to their questions and requests? Not that anyone with any intelligence is going to mouth off given that the TSA agents have the ability do deny entrance to the boarding area or request a fully-body search...
The thing that helps calm me down every time I have to go through the search is that a couple of years ago I saw Ted Kennedy in line in front of me having to take his shoes and belt off and go through the full rigamarole that rest of us do. If a 70+ year old US Senator is treated as poorly as the rest of us, then at least their poor service has to be getting recognized at the congressional level. Maybe someone will actually do something about it. Of course, my patience for the checks isnt' really helped by the fact that I accidentally brought my swiss army knife with me to Europe last summer. In my carry-on luggage. And it was caught THREE COUNTRIES after my first flight. Oh well - I hope the nice Italian police man is enjoying my knife and cutting and opening a lot of things with it.
Anyway, back to last Thursday night. The only words any TSA rep in Seattle spoke to me the entire time was "please step forward" when I was supposed to go through the metal detector. No "3-3-1" announcements. There weren't even any pre-recorded announcements taking the place of being yelled at. Maybe we were all expected to have read up before we showed up to the airport? Maybe they were all just tired?