TSA is mess

[Tahuyaman]

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.

[Tahuyaman]

If I ever happen to run into the idiot who performed the additional screening in SF, I will go to prison for a significant period of time.

[Captain Obvious]

Did they pistol whip you into a pool of your own blood and piss?

[resister]

Did they pistol whip you into a pool of your own blood and piss?

I was gonna say, he is lucky he was not "deplaned"

[Standing Wolf]

I've stopped flying altogether, unless some close family member back East has died, or something along those lines. My father was an airline pilot and I grew up taking flying for granted, but those days are long gone, thanks to the TSA.

My last bad experience was nowhere near as horrendous as yours, but it was bad enough that I almost put on my shoes, grabbed my stuff and blew off my flight; if I hadn't been going to see one of my sons graduate from Army flight school and tack on his wings, I probably would have.

There were no TSA agents anywhere near the x-ray machine, but they were instructing people to put all of the stuff from their pockets into a plastic tray and leave it on the conveyer belt, then walk over about thirty feet to where they were wanding us. There must have been eight or ten trays on the immobile conveyer belt, and no one but passengers milling around it. I happened to have an obscene amount of cash stuffed into my wallet, so I didn't feel comfortable leaving it there, and I asked this short, grotesquely obese woman doing the wanding if she would please just hold onto my wallet for a minute till she was through with me. She acted like I'd just asked her to do something nasty and outrageous - kept insisting that she wouldn't let me pass through with my wallet in hand.

Arguing wasn't getting me anywhere, so I went back to the x-ray machine and was able to snag my carry-on bag - which hadn't gone very far into the machine before they apparently stopped it and went to lunch or something - and stuffed my wallet into that, which felt a little more secure. Returned to Ms. Charm, who then told me I needed to take off my belt and put that in the plastic tray. Did that and returned, only the trousers I was wearing were quite loose and I had to hold them up with one hand. (You can see what's coming next, I'll wager.) I was told I needed to raise both my arms in order to be wanded. Through gritted teeth I said, "I can't". "Why not?" "Because my..." (pause to swallow obscenities) "...my pants will fall down" (you...more unspoken expletives). At that point, I was very close, as I say, to just packing it in and calling a cab to go home. She must have perceived - however dimly - that I was approaching critical mass and relented about the arm thing. That was about six years ago, and I haven't flown since.

[resister]

The landlady where we just moved from was a TSA agent, I don't miss her sweet disposistion. She would show up to collect rent in her uniform.

[Peter1469]

They must not have uniform standards, or they don't bother to follow them. I have travelled extensively over the years and there are different procedures at different airports, even during the same trip. When I last flew I didn't have to take my shoes off or take my computer out. I did coming back. I asked why, but said, oh never mind before they had the chance to open their mouth.

I chuckled at them.

[Tahuyaman]

I was gonna say, he is lucky he was not "deplaned"

This obviously was prior to getting on the plane.

[Tahuyaman]

I've stopped flying altogether, unless some close family member back East has died, or something along those lines. My father was an airline pilot and I grew up taking flying for granted, but those days are long gone, thanks to the TSA.

My last bad experience was nowhere near as horrendous as yours, but it was bad enough that I almost put on my shoes, grabbed my stuff and blew off my flight; if I hadn't been going to see one of my sons graduate from Army flight school and tack on his wings, I probably would have.

There were no TSA agents anywhere near the x-ray machine, but they were instructing people to put all of the stuff from their pockets into a plastic tray and leave it on the conveyer belt, then walk over about thirty feet to where they were wanding us. There must have been eight or ten trays on the immobile conveyer belt, and no one but passengers milling around it. I happened to have an obscene amount of cash stuffed into my wallet, so I didn't feel comfortable leaving it there, and I asked this short, grotesquely obese woman doing the wanding if she would please just hold onto my wallet for a minute till she was through with me. She acted like I'd just asked her to do something nasty and outrageous - kept insisting that she wouldn't let me pass through with my wallet in hand.

Arguing wasn't getting me anywhere, so I went back to the x-ray machine and was able to snag my carry-on bag - which hadn't gone very far into the machine before they apparently stopped it and went to lunch or something - and stuffed my wallet into that, which felt a little more secure. Returned to Ms. Charm, who then told me I needed to take off my belt and put that in the plastic tray. Did that and returned, only the trousers I was wearing were quite loose and I had to hold them up with one hand. (You can see what's coming next, I'll wager.) I was told I needed to raise both my arms in order to be wanded. Through gritted teeth I said, "I can't". "Why not?" "Because my..." (pause to swallow obscenities) "...my pants will fall down" (you...more unspoken expletives). At that point, I was very close, as I say, to just packing it in and calling a cab to go home. She must have perceived - however dimly - that I was approaching critical mass and relented about the arm thing. That was about six years ago, and I haven't flown since.

Is there any viable solution to this? Once American government ruins something, it seems to be ruined forever. No one has the stones to correct anything.

During my military career, I flew all over the world on several different airlines. Many of my flights were on European airlines where they were extremely serious about security and I've never seen a cluster-@$#% like this ever anywhere.

[Tahuyaman]

They must not have uniform standards, or they don't bother to follow them. I have travelled extensively over the years and there are different procedures at different airports, even during the same trip. When I last flew I didn't have to take my shoes off or take my computer out. I did coming back. I asked why, but said, oh never mind before they had the chance to open their mouth.

I chuckled at them.

Their incompetence, disorganization and complete inefficiency also doesn't give me confidence that they are effective.