Common sense eludes the United States' Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

© 2017 Peter Free

 

13 November 2017

 

 

Is TSA annoying on purpose?

 

The United States' Transportation Security Administration seems to delight in being inconsistent, inefficient and purposelessly irritating.

 

Why is that?

 

 

Consider my last (US returning) international flight

 

We arrived from Germany, which generally combines epitomes of efficiency and professionalism in both border protection and airport security.

 

Dropping into Atlanta, our flight crew informed domestically connecting passengers that we would have to collect our baggage, go through Customs, recheck the baggage, and then catch the domestic flight — after re-entering secured airport space.

 

Despite the annoyance of this convoluted process, I was initially happy to see that Atlanta airport authorities had positioned directing personnel along the necessary route. That was helpful.

 

Border protection also went acceptably, despite kludgy passport scanners and a surprisingly large crowd.

 

I was starting to be impressed. I'm always happy when the United States presents itself well. Makes me proud.

 

TSA, however, managed to gum up this initially favorable impression. TSA never does the same thing the same way anywhere, even within the same month.

 

To wit, Atlanta. There was no TSA pre-check line, which naturally annoyed the many people, either military or those who had gone to the trouble of paying for the TSA background check that eliminates much of the hassle of getting through security.

 

Waiting in a very long, very slow line — time-pressed connecting passengers could read instructional signs posted along the route. These told us to leave small electronic items inside our carry-on bags.

 

However, when we got to the screening area, TSA wanted passengers to remove food and books from the carry-ons. Why hadn't that surprising information been added to the many signs that we had just passed?

 

Passengers, many of whom appeared to be experienced travelers, were caught unprepared. A scramble to sort through bags began. (Try sorting through luggage with no place to set it down.)

 

Not happy with catching us flat-footed, TSA also insisted that passengers return small electric items, wallets and passports to the same carry-ons that they had just been advised to root through for food and reading materials.

 

Why so? If those items were inadvertently put into bins, what harm would have been done?

 

And, as a coup de grace, TSA additionally required that food and reading materials go into bins that were empty of electronics.

 

 

In sum

 

TSA's meddlesome inefficiency was on display again.

 

 

The moral? —  Stupidity certainly seems to be an American value

 

I was happy that the TSA personnel whom we had contact with were friendly.

 

But I doubt that the "civilized" world thinks that good humor makes up for Management's bureaucratically imposed shit for brains.