To be fair, there haven't been any terrorist attacks either.

Or tiger attacks.

Hm.

adammpower:
so much this. I was detained at Logan yesterday for about 20 minutes because i had asked the TSA person to explain to me what she was doing when she insisted on wiping my hands with some sort of chemical pads. I continually refused to allow her to and kept asking nicely to explain what this was and what they were doing. She refused and was indignant. I finally said "the TSA is a bunch of farking aholes". TSA person flipped, called in the state police to deal with me. Had a nice time chatting with the MASS state patrol while we watched these clowns run around for 20 minutes trying to come up with something to charge me with, make threats to ruin my life etc. The state patrol agreed, they are all a bunch of farking aholes. We had a good laugh and a nice talk, eventually things calmed down and i was allowed to pass through the gate, but what a show. Farking aholes all of them. I still don't know what they were attempting to wipe on my hands.

I got stopped at EWR in Feb for the same deal (having already gone through security and boarded a US airline at EDI :-b) ... positive test for glycerines, because I had refilled the windscreen washer bottle in the rental car a couple of days before. Guy was totally friendly and chatty, showed me the mass spectrometer screen and everything.

Pick your airports with care ... all the government folks at EWR are friendly in my experience.

ParaHandy: lisarenee3505: If people would just STOP FLYING, the airlines would eventually force congress to disband the TSA. And don't give me that BS about that not being a practical suggestion. Business travel is the only legit reason to fly, otherwise, take a train, a bus, or drive. If everyone vacationing or visiting relatives or whatever - basically anything not business related - would stop caving in to the desire for convenience and stop giving the airlines their money (while letting the airlines know that it is the TSA that motivates them not to fly), things would change. That won't happen though because this is America, and while we talk a good game about freedom and liberty, everyone knows that for most people it is just too much trouble to actually fight for those things. It's easier to just "go along to get along."

Around 1990, around half of Americans then alive had never left their home STATE, far less the country. You may be one of them.

I live in Austin, TX but Mrs PH and I go back home and visit my father at least once a year. It's a biatch of a drive to Scotland.

Thank you for adding this. I was going to go on about how tough it would be to drive from FL to CA and then take a boat to Australia. I really wish my job would give me several months of vacation to do this, though...

CSB: Went through a body scanner two weeks ago and did the process correctly (stood on the marks and put my hands over my head with my thumbs touching). Told to come through but they needed to check something and had me stand on the next mat. Guy asked me if I had anything in my pockets... nope. Turned them out for him. He took his wand and checked my left upper leg area and then asked if I had metal buttons on my pocket. Errr... Uh, no. The only button (plastic) was on the front waist and there was a zipper. That's it. He asked me again if I had anything in my pocket (which was still turned out and he was looking at it). That's when I realized the body imagery picked up my ACL reconstruction (rod, pins, staples) so I showed him my scar and noted the metal. Nope. Definitely something in my pockets. Waved his wand on my turned-out pocket again and was about to tell me about my nut-grab options when the person on the scanner said something to him and they let me on on my way. Now I don't know what the metal in my knee looks like in the imagery but I am fairly certain my knee is at the junction of my upper and lower legs (not in the middle of my thigh where he repeatedly wanded my leg). Maybe he likes redheads and wanted to see where it would go...

ParaHandy: adammpower:
so much this. I was detained at Logan yesterday for about 20 minutes because i had asked the TSA person to explain to me what she was doing when she insisted on wiping my hands with some sort of chemical pads. I continually refused to allow her to and kept asking nicely to explain what this was and what they were doing. She refused and was indignant. I finally said "the TSA is a bunch of farking aholes". TSA person flipped, called in the state police to deal with me. Had a nice time chatting with the MASS state patrol while we watched these clowns run around for 20 minutes trying to come up with something to charge me with, make threats to ruin my life etc. The state patrol agreed, they are all a bunch of farking aholes. We had a good laugh and a nice talk, eventually things calmed down and i was allowed to pass through the gate, but what a show. Farking aholes all of them. I still don't know what they were attempting to wipe on my hands.

I got stopped at EWR in Feb for the same deal (having already gone through security and boarded a US airline at EDI :-b) ... positive test for glycerines, because I had refilled the windscreen washer bottle in the rental car a couple of days before. Guy was totally friendly and chatty, showed me the mass spectrometer screen and everything.

Pick your airports with care ... all the government folks at EWR are friendly in my experience.

I fly through EWR 3 or so times a year, I totally agree with you, never had any issue and when I've asked questions they were polite and responded.

Harf!, ParaHandy, liam76: ParaHandy: lisarenee3505: If people would just STOP FLYING, the airlines would eventually force congress to disband the TSA. And don't give me that BS about that not being a practical suggestion. Business travel is the only legit reason to fly, otherwise, take a train, a bus, or drive. If everyone vacationing or visiting relatives or whatever - basically anything not business related - would stop caving in to the desire for convenience and stop giving the airlines their money (while letting the airlines know that it is the TSA that motivates them not to fly), things would change. That won't happen though because this is America, and while we talk a good game about freedom and liberty, everyone knows that for most people it is just too much trouble to actually fight for those things. It's easier to just "go along to get along."

Around 1990, around half of Americans then alive had never left their home STATE, far less the country. You may be one of them.

I live in Austin, TX but Mrs PH and I go back home and visit my father at least once a year. It's a biatch of a drive to Scotland.

Thank you for adding this. I was going to go on about how tough it would be to drive from FL to CA and then take a boat to Australia. I really wish my job would give me several months of vacation to do this, though...
===================================== ===============================

Okay smartasses, clearly something like international travel is a different circumstance. Use your farking heads. I'm talking about within the 48 contiguous states. As for you liam76, you have to ask yourself if "practicality" (i.e. convenience) is more important than the freedom to not be groped by a bunch of power-mad high-school dropouts with cheap badges and federal law enforcement authority. It's only a three-day drive (one way) through the heartland of America. Try taking a few extra vacation days and enjoy the trip, maybe rent an RV... or are you one of those snooty coast-dwellers who turns their nose up at the "flyover" states? WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA SO MUCH?!?!?

Okay, that was a little overboard, and I was kidding. I can understand the necessity for air travel for a trip from one coast to the other. I guess I'm talking about the folks who (for example) live in Kansas and think they have to fly to Wisconsin to visit grandma. Heck when I was in the army I used to drive from Ft. Bragg NC and Ft. Campbell KY, to Texas on leave twice a year. It's not that big of a deal.

Personally I don't fly unless I absolutely have no other choice, but the TSA actually isn't the only reason. I use a wheelchair now (thank you very much Mr. Bush for sending me to Afghanistan to get blown up by a bunch of savages who don't want our help there in the first place) and one time they lost it for more than two hours after offloading the plane in Denver.On two other occasions I personally witnessed the baggage handlers literally throw my $6000 chair out of the airplane. I know another person who had one of their wheels run over and destroyed by the baggage cart thing they use on the tarmac, and the airport folks (baggage handlers apparently work of the airport, not for individual airlines) basically just said "oops, sorry 'bout that" and refused to pay to replace the damaged wheel. That's aside from the fact that my friend was literally stuck in place with a busted wheel that could not be repaired. The thing was bent up like a Pringles chip.

TwistedIvory: To be fair, there haven't been any terrorist attacks either.

Or tiger attacks.

Hm.

Or motherfarking snakes on a plane.

macadamnut: DavidVincent: I never would have believed this could happen in my lifetime,

Really? When I was a dumb teen back in the 80s I thought we'd have military rule by the 90s.
In a cynical way I'm actually impressed with the more subtle, systemic approach.

We need a "Sad but True" button next to Smart and Funny.

I'm comforted by the fact that the senior management of TSA has investigated these incidents and fund that in every case, the officer(s) acted in accordance with TSA policy.

Yessir. Comforted.

Our nation was defeated by terror, and the TSA/Department of Homeland Security are the occupying agents.

In reprisal to our loss, we are groped, detained without lawyers, unable to travel with money... the list goes on.

I guess it beats having an annual Hunger Games, but it sure is sad that America lost the war.

I better shut up now, I'd hate to be detained in the basement of the "Freedom Tower."

As much as I dislike organisations like the TSA, I think there is some misconception about their actual purpose. They are there to prevent terrorism, yes? Most people assume they are there to catch "terrorists" and while this is partly true, it seems to me that they are there to act primarily as a deterrent rather than actually catch anyone. By that I mean that if they make a big show of screening absolutely everyone is the most rigorous of ways they reduce the chance that a genuine terrorist will choose air transport as a target. The fact that they have not caught a single terrorist nor has a single plane been hijacked since the TSA's inception suggests that this policy is working with some success.

It's also the reason why I don't want to visit the USA again - not that I have any kind of terrorist leanings, just that I don't want to expose myself to and get groped by one (or more) of these people. Freedom of movement and freedom of assembly are surely two of the main tenets of a free society, neither of these appear to be particularly applicable to the US any more.

On my way back from a visit some years ago (pre-9/11), my carry-on bag was scanned several times before a big guy with a gun was called over and I was asked "Is this your bag?". "Sure", says I mildly perplexed at why my bag should be causing some issue (and, being British, slightly nervous of a man with a gun) until I remembered the 2kilo tub of jelly beans and small collection of kids wind up toys that were in there (Jelly Belly beans for me and silly souvenirs from visits to Burger King). Once I'd opened the bag and shown the security people the items, they were happy and let me on my way with the minimum of fuss.
That experience actually strengthened my belief in the security systems in place because the bag checker saw something that looked odd (a dark mass surrounded by clockwork) and queried it. Great work from the bag checker (no sarcasm there) and a calm response from the security guy made me feel safe and secure because the system seemed to work. There was no pat-down, no overly-intense questioning, I was not unduly delayed (the whole encounter lasted less than 10 minutes) and I went on my way feeling safe because there were security people actually doing a good job.
I suspect that if that scenario was replayed today, it would be very, very different.

hippyneil: The fact that they have not caught a single terrorist nor has a single plane been hijacked since the TSA's inception suggests that this policy is working with some success.

I've got a magic rock here that keeps tigers away.

Do you see any tigers around here?

I can sell it to you if you like.

ParaHandy: lisarenee3505: If people would just STOP FLYING, the airlines would eventually force congress to disband the TSA. And don't give me that BS about that not being a practical suggestion. Business travel is the only legit reason to fly, otherwise, take a train, a bus, or drive. If everyone vacationing or visiting relatives or whatever - basically anything not business related - would stop caving in to the desire for convenience and stop giving the airlines their money (while letting the airlines know that it is the TSA that motivates them not to fly), things would change. That won't happen though because this is America, and while we talk a good game about freedom and liberty, everyone knows that for most people it is just too much trouble to actually fight for those things. It's easier to just "go along to get along."

Around 1990, around half of Americans then alive had never left their home STATE, far less the country. You may be one of them.

I live in Austin, TX but Mrs PH and I go back home and visit my father at least once a year. It's a biatch of a drive to Scotland.

You're just not trying hard enough. When I visit folks in the States, I drive out to Le Havre, then I just caulk it up and row it across.