I just flew back home from Mexico. This time I was randomly selected by the airlines for additional security check. Leaving Mexico, they were polite and quick. They took me aside, checked my carry on bag, checked my hands for explosive residue, quickly patted me down. It took maybe three minutes total.
I had a layover in San Francisco for customs. Customs was quick and easy. Now I had to go back through security for my flight back to Seattle. I had the TSA pre check designation, but I once again had to go through their additional screening.
The he airport was jammed. They had one guy doing the additional check. I had to wait in line for an hour before they got to me. Then they made me empty my carry on bag, turn on all electronics and send everything through the scanner. Then I went through the X-ray machine. Of course they had to reboot it and calibrate it which took another ten minutes.
After going through that, I had to go through another part-down. It took him about five minutes to explain the pat down and another five minutes to execute it. Then he handled every single item in my carry on bag. He did this in slow motion. He looked at my cell phone like he was cave man seeing fire for the first time.
The general security wasn't much better. It was the single greatest demonstration of incompetence, inefficiency, rudeness and grab-ass-ticness I have ever seen.
Does TSA have any uniform standard across the country? Do they have any standards for the personnel they hire? Do they have any standards of performance after they are hired?
They have been in existence long enough to get their $#@! straight. They are getting worse over time. Someone needs to do something about this. They caused me to miss my connecting flight. The idiots scanning everyone's boarding pass entering the secure are were so screwed up, many people missed their connecting flight. I've never seen so many pissed off people in one place.
The airline took care of me on the missed connection, but that added ten more hours to my trip home.
It was an indescribable grabasstic cluster-flop. I often saw that during my military career, but never anything remotely close to this. It's gotta get fixed.