TSA Agents Respond To Pat-Down Anger (PHOTOS, POLL)

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Comments

[Estelle Edwards]

05:58 AM on 01/10/2011

TSA forbids people from taping or photographing inside the terminal. They say it's because of 'national security'. I say they don't want the public to document wrong-doing. They're trying to prevent the passenger's ability to protect him or herself from corrupt or abusive agents.

Passengers are told they can call a supervisor to complain about an agent.
If that passenger is dealing with somebody who is a dirt-bag, calling a supervisor often escalates the situation. The agent retalliates in some way. It's not unlike what haapens to women who try to do something about an abusive spouse, or kids who attempt to talk to someone about bullying. And this is why there is no telling how many abuses are NOT being reported. People just want to end the situation quickly without being jailed or fined. Personally, I want to hear about the outcome of the Robin Kassner case.

Now there are more complaints about theft by TSA employees.

"The terrorists hate us because of our freedom", we're told.
Our response? Turn America into a 24/7 surveillance, random searches-and-seizures-of-property-and-detainment-with-no-due-process society. Fantastic.

Join the boycott of air travel until the TSA is disbanded. Visit the Meetup group:

http://www.meetup.com/National-Boycott-of-Airline-Travel-2011/

[Oilygarch]

08:00 AM on 11/29/2010

Let us not forget: The Japanese were rounded up into internment camps ''in the name of security''.

Also, executioners and hit-men have to pay bills too. ;-P

[Joan Bartos]

04:28 AM on 11/29/2010

Suppose you had this TSA job and you had a family to support? Would you quit? Probably not. Many of you claim you have to fly as a part of your jobs. How many of YOU will be taking a stand and refusing to continue flying because you don't want to be subjected to these body searches? My guess? None of you!

[seajewel]

11:54 PM on 11/28/2010

It just angers me more to hear the TSA whine about their situation. They get paid for it. We don't and we are paying to fly and getting this type of treatment from them. They are not even nice about it. Too many times I've gotten attitude from them, and too many horrific stories. What I want to hear is what are they doing about how they are making us feel? What are they doing to put us at ease? Not whine about how they hate their job.

I normally would have compassion for anyone who expressed these concerns on their job, but for some reason I'm only getting angrier listening to them complain.

[Joan Bartos]

03:53 AM on 11/29/2010

Whine? I think they are only expressing their understandable frustration at having to carry out a difficult job to protect the safety of the flying public.

[seajewel]

10:02 PM on 11/29/2010

Look, I work in security, I've done pat downs on many people for years, I can't remember one nasty comment that stuck with me or made me feel badly their is nothing difficult about it.

I've also worked nightclubs in a bikini and been groped. I dread having that feeling again. There is nothing fun about that.

TSA has nothing to complain about I don't feel sorry for them. They knew what they were in for when they got into it.

[LogicCircuit]

02:10 PM on 11/28/2010

All this article shows is that the TSA agents are bunch of disgruntled customer service employees. Which makes want to submit to their "security" checks even less.

Are we supposed to feel safe in the hands of these whiners? Totally unprofessional.

[Joan Bartos]

03:55 AM on 11/29/2010

And you wouldn't be disgruntled in their situation? Have a bit of compassion. These people are just trying to earn a living, for God's sake.

[LogicCircuit]

09:59 AM on 11/29/2010

While you would normally be right, in this case ... that's exactly my point. I don't want a desperate person who's just trying to earn a living responsible for such a serious thing as airport security, I want a professional.

If these people were selected better and trained better, they would be able to read body language and interpret situations, like real security people. Instead, we are now in a situation where we're being treated like potato sacks on a conveyor belt by dumbed down employees who completely shut off to get them through another horrible day-job.

[seajewel]

10:06 PM on 11/29/2010

Oh boo-hoo! Please I hate to think they could actually carry a gun or protect me if they can't even do a pat down without crying.

[amp27]

10:23 PM on 11/27/2010

Dear TSA employees:

The reason you cry when going home after work, or why one of you who is a veteran of two wars is having a harder time with this job than the others is that WHAT YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO DO IS WRONG!! Aren't you agreeing in these responses that it FEELS wrong?

Not that it is your fault, these procedures. But you can refuse to do them. It's called having some self-respect and finding another job. You could possibly quit immediately and collect unemployment, since you are working in a hostile work environment, forced to violate your fellow U.S. citizens' civil rights in order to perform your job duties, and all the emotional stress it is causing to be taunted for violating people against their will, and against your will.

If enough of you refused to work in the current "required" duties, en masse, you could really make an effect. The thing is, you are not slaves, and although you may have found getting a job has been hard in the past, I think if you seriously looked right now, you would find a way.

[Joan Bartos]

03:51 AM on 11/29/2010

Maybe you could exercise some "self-respect" and refuse to fly. Nobody is forcing you to fly on planes.

[Oilygarch]

07:21 AM on 11/29/2010

If you travel frequently for your job, your employer is not going to accept you driving or even taking the train from San Diego to New York City, or even taking a cruise-liner to Barcelona from New York. For many, flying is simply a necessity.

[Quizmos]

07:02 PM on 11/27/2010

"A Nazi is someone with hatred and ignorance in their hearts, a person who carried out actions of execution and extermination of those based on their religion, origins or sexual preferences."

"I come to work to do my job. It is not up to me to decide policy, it is up to me to carry out my duties as dictated by the Transportation Security Administration."

Uh huh!

[whitetara]

09:08 AM on 11/27/2010

If we just go through the scanner it saves face for everyone. Its painless and if you don't travel that often it's safe. Just do it and stop complaining.

[Joan Bartos]

03:50 AM on 11/29/2010

Amen. Some of you people would complain if they hung you with anew rope. Grow-up.

[CJWebber]

10:30 AM on 11/26/2010

A lot of posters seem to be feeling sorry for the T&A agents, but they are complicit in this. They are not refusing to grope people; they are not changing their gloves; they are directing pregnant women and cancer survivors through radiation; they are humiliating people by making them remove prosthetic breasts, etc., the list goes on. What is next? Removal of tampons? It will be next, because cavities don't show up on the scanner.

This is beyond ridiculous.

If you are that scared about security, then flying isn't for you.

[Bumble Bee]

06:42 AM on 11/26/2010

I do empathize strongly with what the TSA agents are going through. If any of you are reading this, hang in there and don't let them get you down. This, too, shall pass.

The masses are fickle; they will soon lose interest and focus on another issue. Turns out that people's commitments to this issue were strong enough to post a few blogs and chat around the drinking fountain but nothing more. They certainly weren't about to risk missing their turkey dinners over this issue. Much ado about nothing.

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it." - Agent K in "Men in Black"

[Oilygarch]

07:30 AM on 11/29/2010

''This, too, shall pass.'' ...just like the Patriot Bill. ;-P

[thawalkingman]

02:12 AM on 11/26/2010

The point is that these invasive checks don't prevent terrorism. Not only that but they would not prevent the method of attack used on 9-11. Boxcutter blades can still be smuggled on board in carry on.

Moreover, explosives can still be carried on board internally the same way drug mules have been smuggling drugs on flights for thirty years.

Israel's methods can not be scaled up to cover the US as it would be too expensive to train agents and there is a little thing called the Constitution that people always say they are willing to die for but are never really willing to risk a thing for.

The methods that work are common sense observation. Most people who are genuine threats give themselves away through their actions. Beyond that there is NOTHING that can be done to prevent a committed and trained individual from attacking a plane

[Joan Bartos]

03:57 AM on 11/29/2010

And how do you know what they do or don't prevent? Are you a security expert?

[Oilygarch]

07:38 AM on 11/29/2010

What I think he was trying to say is: No matter how many high-resolution nudie-scans are performed and no matter how many super-enhanced genital pat-down procedures, none of these methods can protect us from people who are determined to smuggle explossives inside their bodies. Because none of these procedures can detect what is inside the body, only things that are outside the body. Drug cartels, for years, have been smuggling drugs, not only inside body cavities, but also have been surgically implanting them before-hand to get the contraband from point A to point B.

Also, just recently, a Saudi prince (head of Saudi Intelligence) was almost ki||ed when a svicide b0mber set himself off near him who was carrying intra-corporal explossives. This was a 1st for Alqaida. It establishes a very dangerous precedent for us and we are still ill prepared to prevent that from happening no matter how many pat-downs and how many scans that can see through clothes because our current authorised scans cannot see through skin because of the radiation that would be needed to accomplish that. And right now, as it stands, cavity checks are still out of the question.

[Roadrun]

10:01 AM on 11/25/2010

I didn't write the 4th amendment and I didn't choose to be born American. I don't really even understand the full concept of freedom. Today it is safe to make sure your private parts are free from explosives, tomorrow it will be even safer to make sure your home isn't subversive. I am just doing my job. Someone somewhere else needs to stand up and make you people free again, but not me.

[Joan Bartos]

03:48 AM on 11/29/2010

Oh,stop. Don't fly. You have other options. Stop the melodrama,please.

[Oilygarch]

07:45 AM on 11/29/2010

Oh you stop it! ;-) Some people simply don't have the option not to fly. You can't reasonably drive from New York to San Diego and it is impossible to drive from Houston to Buenos Aires because the road doesn't even connect all the way when you get to Panama after 3 weeks of driving. You can't do this by train and taking an ocean cruise also takes wayy tooo long and is too expensive. Flying is a modern necessity for modern needs.

Now, I can agree with you that one should stop unnecessary flying. For instance, I advocate for telecommuting whenever possible. But, even there, some employers are still not on-board with that.

[dudekabob]

03:05 PM on 11/24/2010

While I'll agree their job is tough, they make it a heck of a lot tougher with their smug, "I-know-what-I'm-doing" attitude they present. Who said they have to be 100% serious, show no emotion, and be incredibly rude to everyone who comes through the gate? Not only is security part of their jobs, so is customer service. I'm wondering if they're even taught anything basic about dealing with people? They surely don't seem to be.

[lilianna123]

07:04 PM on 11/24/2010

im guessing you had this happen to you ONE time and now you go making the generalization that all security people dont know how to deal with people. yeah because its not like they are humans or anything.

[dudekabob]

11:28 PM on 11/24/2010

Actually it happens every time I fly, which is several times a month. I get the impression they are intentionally being rude. Sorry, but this "feeling" is my based on my observation. If you find it offensive, you're certainly entitled.

[Lauren Kottwitz]

07:16 PM on 11/25/2010

Truth, I would certainly be more empathetic to these people if even once, ONCE they showed the slightest interest in getting us through efficiently and happily. I don't need them to chat with me - that would be so irritating - but if they could at least pretend that they don't completely hate everything about their job and enjoy taking it out on passengers until they get a new one, they would at least be doing as much as the average Blizzard B**ch at Dairy Queen (I can say that because I was one for a while).

I know that customer service is a rough thing to commit to, especially if you're at a job that requires a certain level of decorum and authority, but if a cop can be incredibly sweet and professional while arresting me for a DUI, then TSA should be able to say: "Hello ma'am/sir, I know you aren't excited about this, neither are we - but if you cooperate, we'll get you through in no time and I'll promise not to cup your breasts/balls." Then maybe a chuckle. I don't think it's too much to ask.

I'm happy that someone is doing the job they're doing, but some basic customer service training would really help I think.

[Joan Bartos]

04:19 AM on 11/29/2010

You must live in an alternate universe. TSA workers are not supposed to "joke" with people,nor can they assure you that they won't touch certain body parts.
If you want nice,friendly people to deal with,go to a bar,not an airport.

[TB-63]

11:06 AM on 11/24/2010

Sympathy, is that what this article is in theory attempting to generate, well it isn't working. If you don't agree with the policy yet you carry it out sympathy is the last thing I'll give you, respect is second to last. The Nazi black shirts thought they were serving their country as well but look what happened there. Carrying out the whims of corporate fear mongers makes you one of them, an enemy of the people. There will be no respect or sympathy for the executioner. TSA agents have a choice, follow your belief system or follow the dollar, your choice. The underwear bomber was a patsy so that Chertoff would make millions off of us sheep.

[Joan Bartos]

03:44 AM on 11/29/2010

You sound really immature. If you're so opposed to TSA rules,then don't fly.

[Oilygarch]

07:55 AM on 11/29/2010

As I said before, unless you are Amish or something like that, some people must fly. Depending on certain people's needs, not flying is a hardship when faced with the alternatives.

If I may, I would amend that to don't fly unnecessarily.

[Estelle Edwards]

05:52 PM on 01/15/2011

You sound like the type of guy who would have loved dictators like Mussolini because he made the trains run on time. And I'll tell you where you're way off base.

Whether you realize it or not, the air travel industry, in some respects, has always been an extension of the hospitality industry. You have a class of federal employees makiing people feel like they're being processed to serve time in a correctional facility instead of embarking on what used to be a pleasant mode of travel. Even though they are there for security, their mentality is somewhat out of whack. They don't belong in that venue without some attitude adjustment. Period.

[JPalka]

10:00 AM on 11/24/2010

Remember how you were supposed to wear clean underwear in case you are run over by a dump truck? This is just another reason...

[Oilygarch]

07:56 AM on 11/29/2010

I agree (faved), except that if I get run over by a dump-truck, I'm afraid that my underwear won't be clean anymore.