[IP] Rude TSA personnel; uneven liquids policies
Begin forwarded message:
From: Esmé Vos <isolde100@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 16, 2006 12:43:38 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Rude TSA personnel; uneven liquids policies
For IP if you wish.
I posted this on my blog today (http://www.rosecantine.com/archives/
193/) about the uneven TSA liquids policies in SF, Boston and Houston:
In addition to yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs like
their colleagues in other airports, Logan TSA people try to project
the image that they are really doing something to ensure you
security. And this is how they do it:
I checked in a little plastic bag with liquids. The bag went through
the scanner and immediately, an alert TSA employee, no doubt keeping
us safe from those nasty people told me that the little plastic bag
was too big. Never mind that the same plastic bag went through San
Francisco Airport's security without any problems. So to make us feel
that they are doing a spectacular job, they decided to confiscate a
nearly empty bottle of contact lens solution. But they let the
plastic bag through anyway.
When I said, "But this bag and all of its contents went through San
Francisco with no problem," the TSA guy retorted, "Yeah, but San
Francisco is San Francisco."
Yes, folks, don't you feel so much safer now that airport security
people in a single country can't agree on standard procedures and
even criticize their own colleagues in another city? By the way, the
same little plastic bag filled with eye drops, lip gloss, hand creme
and hair gel just sailed right through Houston's airport, right in
Bush country.
I love the Tyler Brule column in the Financial Times this weekend in
which he rips TSA apart for the degrading manner in which they treat
passengers.
"Having just witnessed a humiliating attack on a defenceless elderly
gentleman at La Guardia airport, it's time to create an enforceable
charter of human rights for passengers and a tough set of standards
that airports, airlines and affiliated businesses must abide by."
. . .
"As the gentleman tried to collect his things and bundle them in his
arms the security guard moved in closer. 'Sir, this is a federal
inspection area and you must move on. You must do so in the fastest
manner possible sir!' The man gently nodded but dropped a shoe in his
haste and the barrage of passive-aggressive security-speak started
over again. I motioned to go and help the man but he pulled himself
together and then shuffled away to find a place to put on his shoes."
"I immediately told the security man that terrorising people was not
part of his job description. 'Sir, you're in a federal inspection
area . . . "' he began. '. . . and as a result you're a
representative of the federal government and you're not putting on
the best face for Washington by abusing a man in his 80s,' I
retaliated."
"Unfortunately, this scene isn't limited to just the airports of the
Port Authority but plays itself out all over North America, pockets
of Europe, Australia and beyond. Passengers recognise the need for
stricter security measures but with them have come a culture of
belligerent behaviour that's going unchecked by the security
companies who win contracts, the airports that award them and the
governments that are supposed to police the system."
(Brule column is at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/
658a3126-5b21-11db-8f80-0000779e2340.html)
Sincerely,
Esme Vos
Founder
Muniwireless.com
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