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#11
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Encounters with the TSA
On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 14:04:52 +0000, Phil
wrote: You have our complete attention, we are all ears. Do go on. I once dealt with a husband whose wife in a fit of rage had rammed a knitting needle into the side of his neck and out the back. -- Lansbury (LHR) |
#12
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Encounters with the TSA
In message , Mark Hewitt
writes Did you find out why she became so upset because you took your hat off? Maybe he has a very scary toupee? More seriously, did she think he was retrieving a concealed weapon? -- Roland Perry |
#13
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Encounters with the TSA
Lansbury wrote:
No not a clue tried asking just got blanked, Wow! Another Black Books fan!!! |
#14
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Encounters with the TSA
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#15
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Encounters with the TSA
"Binyamin Dissen" wrote in message If I am in a rush, and I haven't checked bags (if you check bags they will hold the flight for you for a while as it takes a lot of time to offload your luggage) I am less likely to argue. That's going to stop after the first of the year, especially on AA. The new policy will be that bag pulls do not start until the door is closed. If you aren't on that plane, and show up in the middle of a bag pull, you'll still be denied boarding for being late to the gate. Passengers WILL be trained!!! No more games that cause delays. The idea is if they are already in the middle of a delay from pulling your bags, they can't stop or they delay becomes their own instead of a security/TSA delay. Wise up! |
#16
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Encounters with the TSA
On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 14:38:06 +0000, Roland Perry
wrote: More seriously, did she think he was retrieving a concealed weapon? No because if she had I guess I meant have been dealt with if a different way. I put my cap back on and no attention was paid to it or me at all. after I walked through the arch. Someone at Heathrow suggested they could have a CCTV tracking system and they were concerned it would photograph me without baseball cap and be fooled when I put it back on. But the tracking systems I have seen are far to complex to be fooled by that. It might explain why I had to go back behind a yellow line before I put my cap back on. -- Lansbury |
#17
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Encounters with the TSA
"Lansbury" wrote in message ... Last month fly from LHR to PDX out bound via LAX and home via ORD. The flight out on UA was in 36 years of flying the very best experience I have ever had. Excellant food and a crew whose service was second to none. At LAX we transferred terminals and had our first encounter this year with the TSA. I was expecting to take my laptop out of the rack sack I was carrying it in, one designed for computers and recommend by others on this group. It did its job well except for this one time. It refused to release the laptop for examination. Now why the TSA are incapable of x-raying laptops in bags like most other security people I don't know but of course the more I tugged the more stubborn the laptop/bag became. An empty queue became a longish one and there was much teeth sucking and tut tutting from the man behind Mrs Lansbury. The more he tutted the more the laptop refused to slide out. In fact if the TSA guy had just held the bottom of the rucksack it would have solved the problem but he refused my polite request to do so and just stood there laughing at me. In the end the guy in the queue tutted once too often and I enquired if he had much money invested in his dental work. Solved the problem because the laptop then popped out of the bag. I'm a little confused, here. You had trouble getting your laptop out of your bag. Because of that you held up the line. People behind you became impatient (as would I). Instead of politely stepping aside while you worked on _your_ problem, you threatened the person behind you? Charming. Placed my items in the tray and went towards the arch. As I did so I took my cap off and held it so the TSA woman could see the inside. It is normal in the UK to do this. She thrust a fist towards me and started screaming but as she was incapable of speaking clear English and was screaming I couldn't understand what she was saying. A guy behind me came up and told me she wanted me to put my cap back on, which I did. This resulted in her pushing me back as I went to go through the arch and more screaming. This is also interesting. The procedure is: screw up the walk through, go to secondary screening. I've never seen anyone allowed to back up and try again, at least not for quite a few months. There seems to be more than a little exaggeration here. The guy then said she wants you to take your cap off walked back behind the yellow line on our side of the arch and put your cap back on. This I did and went through no problems. Collected my gear and turned to see where Mrs Lansbury was. She was on a chair, no shoes, clothing in disarray being wanded by two TSA staff who had the wand up the inside of her blouse and were not being careful as to want might be being shown to the male passengers walking past. After much discussing and wanding and prodding of her body, all in public view, they decided her bra fastener had set the detector off and let her through. We reached PDX without further incident but she was very embarrassed by the fact that she had been searched in public view, she understood why but not the how. Everyone is searched in public view, and I've never, not once, seen a wand inserted _inside_ someone's clothing. On the way home we checked in our four very large cases, Mrs Lansbury is American and only buys her clothes when we are in the US not liking the English fit or style, and promptly got selected to have them randomly searched. I'm sorry, I must have missed something. At which airport where you where checked bags are subject to random searches, as opposed to all bags going through x-ray? X-ray for all checked luggage, inspection of suspicious ones, only, is the norm at every airport in the U.S. that I've been in for about a year or more. The UA check in woman was very helpful directed me where to take the cases while she finished printing out the luggage tags and then came over, put them on the bags and gave us our boarding cards. The bags were left to be checked as the TSA would then hand them bag to the airline. There was more bags there then they could cope with and they were first sorted into flight departure times, for checking later. In fact they only opened one of the four bags, the one Mrs Lansbury had packed her favourite brand of orange grease remover in which she swears England has no equivalent of. The TSA had opened and then not screwed the cap back on it properly so it had leaked over the contents of the bag. Fortunately the bag with older clothing in and it washed out ok. File a claim with TSA. This is the only gripe you've recited that sounds both plausible and valid. At security the laptop came out first time a good start I thought, I emptied my pockets into the tray and went to walk through the arch, (no cap this time it went in my carry on at check in). Stopped going through the arch told to take my watch off. Place watch in another tray and go to walk through the arch. Was this just an oversight on your part, or did you think, "Remove all metal objects" didn't apply to watches (or to you)? Stopped and told to take my trouser belt off. I said it hasn't caused any problems anywhere else and got told "We keep our machines set on a much more sensitive setting than other airports.You haven't travelled through Portland before". Not the sort of thing to be saying in public, still go back take my watch off and put it in a tray and go to walk through the arch. Get stopped for a third time and told to take my shoes off. I do so go back put them in a tray and go through the arch. You're probably unaware that, for the last couple of months, not taking off your shoes will ensure a secondary inspection. The TSA officer was doing you a _favor_ by suggesting that you remove your shoes. As I go through I said to the guy wouldn't it have been easier to mention all three items in one go to which he replied "Teach you to do it properly next time". I amazed myself at the self control I exhibited while I bite my tongue. I'm still not clear about what part of, "remove all metal objects" gave you trouble? Spent a pleasant hour in the Red Carpet Club and go to the gate. As we sit down the woman on the seat opposite reaches into her bag pulls out her knitting along with two large knitting needles and proceeds to click away. Which I think just about sums up the professionalism or lack thereof of the TSA. -- Lansbury |
#18
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Encounters with the TSA
"PTRAVEL" wrote in message ... You're probably unaware that, for the last couple of months, not taking off your shoes will ensure a secondary inspection. The TSA officer was doing you a _favor_ by suggesting that you remove your shoes. I wasn't asked to remove my shoes, nor did I do so, nor was I subjected to secondary inspection, on a very recent (October) trip to and within the USA. I went through security at RDU (twice), DCA and BOS. JohnT |
#19
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Encounters with the TSA
"JohnT" wrote in message ... "PTRAVEL" wrote in message ... You're probably unaware that, for the last couple of months, not taking off your shoes will ensure a secondary inspection. The TSA officer was doing you a _favor_ by suggesting that you remove your shoes. I wasn't asked to remove my shoes, nor did I do so, nor was I subjected to secondary inspection, on a very recent (October) trip to and within the USA. I went through security at RDU (twice), DCA and BOS. JohnT You must be special! I can understand your desire to brag! |
#20
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Encounters with the TSA
"Binyamin Dissen" wrote in message ... On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 13:20:32 GMT Air wrote: :The message t :from "None" contains these words: : ITS NOT GOING TO CHANGE! You are ALWAYS going to find a TSA screener who's : either on a power trip that day, or just plain on the rag. :You are saying they have Carte Blanche to do/say whatever they like? No :security screener should ever be on a power trip. It totally undermines :the whole purpose of the job and any screener telling a pax "Teach you :to do it properly next time" should not be there. :For people to take note and security seriously the TSA needs to be :professional in their attitude, which includes searching people when :required behind a screen, not in full view of all and sundry. Discreet :and behind the scenes, not the show for all. There are many that post to this group, while attempting to conceal their name, who really don't fly much. You can pretty much ignore them. The issue for me is how much time I have. It is for me as well. And to be honest, I've never been delayed more than a few minutes by screening. I travel a lot, and have it down to an art: 1. Watch, cellphone, keys, pen, coins, etc. all go in my jacket pocket. 2. Jacket and shoes go into a bin. 3. Laptop goes into a bin. 4. Rollaboard first on the conveyer, followed by bin with jacket, bin with laptop, computer bag last (which is CRAMMED full of electronics and, on occassion, results in secondary screening). Through the metal detector, grab everything and off to the club room. Once I'm at the belt, it never takes me more than a minute or two, I've never encountered any discourtesy, and even when my computer bag requires secondary inspection, by the time I've got my shoes, jacket and watch back on, they've finished looking or swabbing or whatever it is they wanted to do. The delays I object to are secondary inspections at the gate (which now seem to be a thing of the past), and the so-called "random" security inspections to which I'm subject whenever I buy a one-way ticket, or use a Y-UP fare on Northwest. The latter are a pain because, in my experience, there aren't enough inspectors to do the secondary inspection, and I've had to wait 5 minutes or so. And, of course, people like the OP, who hold up the line for whatever reason, and then get surly with TSA and the other pax waiting behind them, are a constant annoyance. YMMV, but what I've described above is my experience through about 60 checkpoints this year, at a dozen or so different airports. When I have been quite early for a flight I have no problem taking the effort to challenge silly things being requested by the TSA agent and calling for his supervisor. I am not obscene or violent, so even when/if they call over the police (and, yes, it has happened) there isn't much that the police can do. I will also explain to the police that the request was silly and ask them to explain it. If I am in a rush, and I haven't checked bags (if you check bags they will hold the flight for you for a while as it takes a lot of time to offload your luggage) I am less likely to argue. -- Binyamin Dissen http://www.dissensoftware.com |
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