TSA and the transmitter, a short travel story

[lmorin]

.........
My wife and I fly on a regular basis, I also fly for work.
I see FAR more TSA agents being A holes to customers then your nice painted picture of helping old ladies cross the street and parents with kids. I am always nice polite and professional dealing with the TSA, its in my best intrest as I always have scuba gear or a huge amount of computer and electronic equipment with me. Most times I find the TSA agents very stand off, grumpy, rude, and demading. Very rarely do I hear a "please" or a "thank you", I hear SIR TAKE YOUR LAPTOP OUT OF THE BAG. Any time a question is asked an answer is returned with attitude and sometimes an eye roll. Not everyone flies all the time, and no one understands all the rules, not even the agents..........

I would guess that you must be a particular target for some reason. My wife and I fly on more than a "regular basis" and have seldom seen TSA agents being the proverbial "A holes" or "grumpy, rude," etc. The vast majority of the time they are simply neutral. Mostly, we take care of ourselves, but if they ask us to do something reasonable (which, for us at least, it always has been), we do it. It's all part of the contemporary travel game. We get grumpy, too, but seldom because of the TSA.

We've had a few interesting situations. Right after the ban on liquids went into effect, I forgot and packed two 10 oz bottles of sunscreen in a carryon with regs, lights, camera etc. The TSA agent was so interested in the unknown gear, that she picked up the two bottles of sunscreen and held them in her left hand while poking around the carry-on with her right. Finally, she tucked everything back in, bottles on top, and said, "Have a good day, sir."

The bigger problems have come in Cozumel and Roatan where, after having gone through the official security screening for the departing flight, there was a secondary, mandatory screening conducted by airline personnel, not by governmental authorities. In Cozumel (2006), this resulted in all my light batteries being confiscated. In Roatan recently, it was a pro forma inspection with a lot of rummaging, but no real looking.

 

[tstormdiver]

I have recently started traveling with my canister light. I have made it a point to tell the screeners that there is a "specalized diving light in that bag with a rechargeable NiMH battery". I also have the manufacturer's instruction book in the case. Most often they take it out, look at it, determine that the battery is unhooked & not easily rehooked & let me go on my way. I have gotten a few strange looks from the screeners if I don't mention what it is before the scan it. I feel to forewarn them of what they will see, helps to speed the process, because there are no surprises.

 

[DandyDon]

The security checks done in other countries for flights to the US are supposedly done to TSA standards, with much left to interpretation...

 

[fppf]

I would guess that you must be a particular target for some reason.

I highly doubt that we are targeted for anything but having scuba gear and lots of electronics. The devices we carry can't be looked into by Xray so they must be hand checked.

Again, I don't care if they need to hand check my bag. These are just observations of how people are interacting and reacting, thats all. And its not only with me, I watch a lot of people go through while standing in line picking my nose.

I'm sure if I was a "target" they would not have approved me for my Nexus pass, which requires Federal backround checks in not only the US but in Canada as well.