I fly all the time. TSA Precheck, and other than when an amateur gets in front of me it's very rarely anything more than a few minutes inconvenience.
Airport Scanner Experience
- Thread starter Doriangray6
- Start date
I have had a couple wonderful experiences with TSA. One involved a copy of Guns And Ammo magazine I had that subjected me to a more thorough fun time.
Customs have not been a problem except one time when I was bringing back a couple Rum Cakes from Tortuga, a rather young agent said I was over our allotment of booze. A more senior agent when he was done laughing allowed us to continue out of the cruise ship building.
In my days of traveling for Uncle Sam, I had ended up on a round the world trip, starting in Egypt. Having been there many times, my "female colleagues" asked me to bring back gold cartouches for them, plus a few other "trinkets". When I landed back in Dulles, three weeks later, I declared them due to their values. So after waiting around for a 30 minutes or so, a female Customs officer asked me to explain before she assessed duties. When I told her what they were and showed that all were "female names" in the more expensive ones, showed her my PIV card and she simply asked how she could transfer to my group at NIH and waved me through. So sometimes they are civil and human. Dave_n
I like to go through the X-ray and shake my hips a little. Then I holler You see why she married me.
My son is a federal agent and simply shows his credentials and walks right past the TSA show. What really used to drive TSA crazy is when he was n the Navy reserves working EOD details. His uniforms always reeked of explosives and set off all the alarms. He showed them his orders and passed on through.
Every time I pass through the screening machine it goes off. I thought it was the zipper to my money belt. Then maybe the jeans buttons I had on the inside of the waistband of my trousers to take braces. The last time, at Roy Rogers International in Oklahoma City, I had nothing metallic on me (so I believed) and it still went off. I do have a small titanium implant where my spine was fused about 15 years ago, and it does sometimes set off the hand wand at the intake counter at work, so maybe......
Anyway I was wantded, given a pat down and my hands were swabbed for explosive residue as were my bags.
Interestingly, they did not want my brand new laptop or iPad taken out of my carryon.
Anyway I was wantded, given a pat down and my hands were swabbed for explosive residue as were my bags.
Interestingly, they did not want my brand new laptop or iPad taken out of my carryon.
Kermit Grenoille
Member
As someone who lives along the border and deals with border agents rather regularly, I shall quite vehemently and vociferously defend their reputation by pointing out that TSA have absolutely ZERO border enforcement authority whatsoEVER.
They're effectively mall cops, who can approve/deny entry to the plane, and that's about it. They still need real LE to do ANYTHING else.
Kermit Grenoille
Member
There's a small but real chance I might know him, or at least know of him...
I live along the the border as well and have the greatest respect for the Border Patrol; we worked many, many critical incidents together. One of my most prized possessions is an issue USBP leather jacket from the 90s gifted by the PAIC in my District.
The TSA and Port of Entry Customs personnel are the ones to whom I was referring, both varieties of whom I most often encountered while crossing borders.
The TSA and Port of Entry Customs personnel are the ones to whom I was referring, both varieties of whom I most often encountered while crossing borders.
Kermit Grenoille
Member
*blinks*
Las Cruces, Deming, or Lordsburg? You may well be local to me...
Kermit Grenoille
Member
Heck, we might even have MET.... It's not THAT long a shot...
'Cruces and Deming, but with responsibilities for Lordsburg. Still have property by the Little Floridas.
Kermit Grenoille
Member
Sitting at my desk right now on the west side of the Floridas, south of town.
Small world.
It is indeed!
LVSteve
Member
Due to their "it won't happen again" training, in the eyes of TSA you're just somebody dressed like a police officer until you prove otherwise. Oh, and everything their side of the scanners is theirs, not yours, no matter what your city, county, or state might believe. Get used to it.
For reasons I cannot go into, I once had a locally supplied armed escort in a foreign country. He was with some oddbod government department of that country, but there was no way he was allowed in the airport with his piece.
Right after 9/11 I was stranded in New Orleans. When they started flying again, the new Security guy waived the 2 guys ahead of me thru with next to nothing in the way of inspection. One was pretty scruffy and the other not much better and had a mini-sized duffel bag unscanned and unopened. I on the other hand was dressed business casual with a briefcase and a clothes bag as was common and acceptable at that time. Security guy was a young punk looking kid (I wont mention race) who was apparently thrilled with the power and stopped me wanded me and made me open everything up. Before I retired in 2005 I encountered some polite professional screeners, but most were minimum wage and not particularly well trained or interested, and then there were some who were power hungry with ability to make people do whatever they wanted since if you complained, you missed your flight. I havent flown much since 2005, but the few times seem like the playbook is unchanged.
LVSteve
Member
You questioned a TSA person and made your flight? First time for everything, I guess.
Kermit Grenoille
Member
I've called them incompetent idiots to their faces and made my flight.You questioned a TSA person and made your flight? First time for everything, I guess.
I stopped flying because of the price, the rest of the airport hassle, the price, my phobic paranoia at being a passenger, and the price.
It's less expensive to drive the family cross country in the minivan, including some rather nice and not cheap hotel stops, than it is to fly and rent a car. Far less stressful, too.
In Baghdad, we had PSD personnel up to where dogs sniffed luggage outside on the sidewalk, but none allowed between the dogs and the entry, and certainly not inside the BIAP. Not everyone inside loved Americans.
LVSteve
Member
A man honest enough to admit his control issues, most refreshing.
Now that I'm retired, trips to far-flung family can be done by road as killing my PTO is no longer a concern. It means we can take all the changes of clothes and wrapped gifts we want without being nickeled and dimed and then have half of it go AWOL in the air travel "system".
