Political & Elections

soccerguy315 · Guru

RE: TSA crotch-area anomaly

longprime · Guru

I gotta fly more often.

So that I can examine which TSAer are bigger ***holers. evileye

-- Edited by longprime on Thursday 10th of May 2012 10:40:08 AM

hope · Guru

The same airport I had my pat-down--could be the same female agents.

How absurd is this?

http://www.kansas.com/2012/04/24/2309493/mom-tsa-agents-at-wichita-airport.html

When I go through security, I choose the line in in which the "officials" seem to be behaving the least like ***holes. Seems to help.

-- Edited by hope on Tuesday 1st of May 2012 06:14:13 AM

busdriver11 · Guru

I used to be so annoyed with the entire thing. I always, always got flagged for additional screening (one way ticket, bought at the last minute). And I flew constantly so it was such a hassle. I'll never forget the time the people in the additional screening line were me (airline pilot in uniform), an FBI agent, and an elderly lady in a wheelchair. While a group of Middle Eastern guys whisked on by. It got to the point where even the TSA agents were muttering to each other, why are we doing this?

I have it figured out now that they don't flag us for our ticket status anymore. Never set off the machine, never have on metal or leave things in my pocket, walk through slowly....seems to help. If I wear my ID, they don't make me go through the backscatter. Occasionally I leave a big bottle of something in my suitcase or my kids suitcase accidentally, they often just let it pass. I think most of the TSA guys and gals are doing a pretty good job (except they shouldn't let me get away with slipping things through just because I am pleasant and have an ID). Every now and then you run into Barney Fife, as the problem with a few is that the power over how they can hassle people gets to their head. That's the main problem. I would hate, however, to get patted down every time. Never had a "crotch anomaly", but if I did, I'd just go through the machine again. Not worth making a big deal over.

Cartera · Guru

I have a hip replacement so I get patted down a lot. I have never had any issues with it and, since I do comedy work as a hobby, it has provided some material. The TSA workers have never been menacing or demeaning or intimidating with me. They have always been very professional. One time, I had to go through a second screening because the agent's gloves, after patting me down, showed some sort of substance that set off the machines. I found the second step to be very intimidating, even though the agent herself was very nice and professional and it involved no touching at all. I was ready to confess to being a terrorist. I totally get false confessions. I don't think the process makes us safer and I'd be happy to do away with lots of the safety regulations.

SamuraiLandshark · Guru

I guess the issue that I have is, does TSA really make us safer? Does having less than 3 oz of shampoo or 3 oz of gel deoderant in a quart size Ziploc bag in my carryon really make us safer? Does taking off our shoes and putting them in the xray bin make us safer? Or have the terrorists just said, hell with it, let's move on to something easier? Terrorism doesn't have to continue - they have left their mark. We are still following these policies because that is what they decided a decade ago. But I do question some of the methods. I would rather see some profiling done. Instead, I always see the most unlikely passengers being pulled aside for screening.

I don't think patting down Grandma and making her take off her Depends diaper is the solution to keeping us safer.

hope · Guru

Tsa is just a symPtom of the political correctness that is killing this country. Four more years of Obama and we'll be destroyed. Sorry, but I really believe this.

longprime · Guru

On principle I'll agree with you. Completed my mail-in primary ballot. Voted for Ron Paul, because of the the degradation of our freedoms under the Patriot. Act. I don't particularily like RP's economics, but Big Business will be there to stop him.

hope · Guru

Actually, I did close my eyes and imagine a GYN exam. The only difference was the attitude and look on the face of my "examiner." The intimidation factor is totally unnecessary. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason for it. How many times have explosives been found on grandmothers and toddlers? Give me a break.

catahoula · Guru

I'd rather fly with people who signed a waiver, myself. One that said, "in exchange for being an adult and as such, entitled to make choices, I'll forgo being frisked by transit worker equivalents 'cuz they suspect I might be a middle eastern terrorist with a bleach job."

Maybe there'll be enough demand from the anti-profiling sheeple to fill a plane, longprime. Otherwise, I suppose they can just drive.

catahoula · Guru

Low paid and union represented.

They have a website, too. It's either to high-five each other when they catch the fake terrorist that's been sent through for training purposes, or for hand-holding when Drudge runs the latest child/paraplegic/grandmother molestation - it's hard to tell.

I am pretty sure it's not pushing them towards better service, though.

hope · Guru

I'm not seeing the connection between pay grade and attitude. For example, Target employees are mandated to have a winning/helpful manner (one of my sons worked there in hs), and they're paid minimum wage or close to it.

Either TSA personnel are taught to be menacing, or the type just gravitates towards the job. Or their stupid badges go to their heads.

All I know is that since my pat-down, my heart races everytime I go through security--which is ridiculous. Scheduled to fly again in a couple of weeks and I already dread it.

longprime · Guru

I'd rather have a few "molested" frequent flyers than just one plane load of dead.

Can you imagine what would happen if we had another plane successful plane hijacking?

You'all need a change of attitude. Just imagine yourself as, 'Hot Stuff'. And that the TSA personnel are even hotter. Sweet dreaming. evileye

As for Target, DS is there now. Minn-StP. Target called him last week and told him to come dressed for their annual, 'casual week'. LOL, I asked wife if he ever replaced his lost suit in 2005. He lives in Seattle, tech guy.

-- Edited by longprime on Monday 30th of April 2012 04:32:12 PM

longprime · Guru

I gotta fly more often. evileye

soccerguy315 · Guru

when you pay someone $30K a year, you can only expect so much in the way of customer service.

hope · Guru

I had a pat down. If the woman doing it had been a normal human, it wouldn't have been so bad. But she seemed to harbor fantasies of bring a nazi prison guard . Stripping them of their stinkin badges and official regalia would be a start. The mIndset they are encouraged to have is scary .

SamuraiLandshark · Guru

Now that I have your attention:

http://news.yahoo.com/tsa-found-anomaly-jeffrey-goldbergs-mother-laws-crotch-162757933.html

TSA Found 'Anomaly' in Jeffrey Goldberg's Mother-in-Law's Crotch Area

By Alexander Abad-Santos | The Atlantic Wire – Fri, Apr 27, 2012

TSA Found 'Anomaly' in Jeffrey Goldberg's Mother-in-Law's Crotch Area

The might TSA had already taken down 7-year-old would-be terrorists with cerebral palsy and made at least one suspected al-Qaeda operative pump her own breast, so why not go after Atlantic writerJeffrey Goldberg's 79-year-old tiny mother in law? "Okay, I now have definitive proof that al Qaeda has actually won," Goldberg writes, retelling the Rhode Island-to-Washington, D.C. trip his 4'11" mother-in-law was taking. The "proof?" Per Goldberg:

The TSA agent said, again, in full voice, "There's an anomaly in the crotch area."
This is, of course, a painful post for me to write. Like most normal American men, I don't want to see the words "my mother-in-law" and "crotch area" in the same paragraph. But let me go on anyway.
My mother-in-law said, "As far as I know I don't have any anomalies in the crotch area."
The TSA agent told her she would have to go through the scanner again. She demurred, saying she didn't like the machine very much. The agent told her she could opt for a pat-down. My mother-in-law refused to be frisked, figuring, correctly, that "they were going to pat-down my crotch area. I mean, there wasn't an anomaly in the chest area."
So she went through the scanner again. Of course, this time -- one minute later -- the TSA found no "anomalies," and she was free to go.

The TSA picked the wrong mother-in-law. Goldberg is a longtime critic of airport screening procedures: In 2008, he wrote a story for the magazine headlined The Things He Carried and appeared on The Colbert Report to talk about it. In case you were wondering, the Twitterverse has sided with Goldberg. But hey, the TSA keeping us safe right? Well at least when they're not in cahoots with drug couriers.