Why TSA Agents Act Like They Do
- Filed Under:
How Agents Get Their Orders:
The traveling public has no idea that the changes the TSA makes come as orders sent down directly from Washington D.C. Those orders may have reasons, but we little screeners at a screening checkpoint will never be told what the background might be. We get told to do something, and just as in the military, we are expected to make it happen -- no ifs, ands or buts about it. Perhaps the changes are as a result of some event occurring in the nation or the world, perhaps it’s based on some newly received information or interrogation. What the traveling public needs to understand the necessity for flexibility. If a passenger asks us why we’re doing something, in all likelihood we couldn’t tell them even if we really did know the answer. This is a business of sensitive information that is used to make choices that can have life changing effects if the information is divulged to the wrong person(s). Just trust that we must know something that prompts us to be doing something.
What Travelers Need To Remember About Their Safety:
I work at a Category X airport -- which is a large, international airport -- and we rank among the top 10 in the country for passenger throughput. The TSA has now been in the business of securing airports for almost six years now, and yet passengers, employees, flight crew and pilots still act like this screening thing is something that just popped up overnight, created to screw up their lives. It’s like no one can remember 9/11.
As a result of 9/11, the price to fly today will never, ever be the same. Flying is a privilege, not a right. And yes, there’s increased scrutiny of your person, your clothing, your baggage, your attitude, your comments and statements, the contents of your bags, your shoes, your liquids, gels, pastes and aerosols, and your headwear. There is no profiling, because everyone is looked at for those listed things. I don't care -- nor does the TSA -- if you’re blue, green, orange, white, red, black, purple or yellow. I care that you or someone you’re traveling with might think they can make a name for themselves or their cause by trying to take on one or more items through security, which could potentially take out or take down another aircraft.
I know people argue this point, but it really could be the guy next to you, the woman with the child, the grandma with her cane or walker. The sad state of this world is that if the bad guy thinks we -- the U.S. and specifically the TSA -- won't check or don't check grandmas and babies, that's exactly what they will use to further their supposed cause. The bad guys keep testing the security systems of this country. They watch and observe at airports, bus stations and train stations. They take pictures so they can refer back to them. They draw diagrams of checkpoints, x-ray machines, and they are continually looking for loopholes to our security procedures. They try to find what is and isn’t being checked, what restrictions are or aren’t in effect. They try hard every day to find a way around a security procedures. Our efforts are meant to close that door to them so they can’t get into the system and disrupt it.
Making A Difference:
I was screening two airline personnel who were on the flight on which Richard Reid attempted to ignite his shoes (it later became known as “The Shoe Bomber Incident.”) Both of these airline attendants said that no matter how long it took or how in-depth the screening needed to be, they didn’t care. They were willing to make the time to give us the opportunity to do our jobs completely in an effort to ensure that another Richard Reid would never get another chance to potentially destroy an aircraft. I felt like my job did have some importance on that day... I felt -- and do feel -- that I really was trying, along with all my co-workers, to make flying a safer method of travel.
A Wish He’d Like Travelers To Fulfill:
Try and remember that TSA employees are human beings. We make mistakes just as everyone else does. I don’t go to your place of employment and start cursing at you and calling you rude, crude and socially unacceptable names. So please offer me and all my TSA co-workers the same courtesy. Prepare in advance of your trip by knowing what’s expected of you and what you are and aren’t allowed to take in your check-in and carry-on luggage (you can do this by visiting the TSA’s website at www.tsa.gov). It’s my belief that passengers should be required to know the rules and regulations, considering they’re the ones doing the traveling. Be a responsible, patient, flexible traveler, and you and I will each be much happier individuals. Lack of prior planning on your part does not an emergency make on my part. And remember -- it’s all for your safety, so that you can fly another day.