If you’re an air traveler, encountering the TSA has become a fact of life... but many of us don’t have a lot of sympathy for TSA Agents. We look at them as being rude and demanding, we get mad at them for making us undress and re-dress, and while certainly it’s an inconvenience, one TSA Agent would like us to know that it’s really and truly for our own safety and welfare -- no matter how irritated you get.
Meet Tracy. After 10 years in law enforcement he decided it was time to change things up a little bit, so when he learned of the TSA’s formation, he found himself drawn to working with them -- especially in light of what happened on September 11th. While Tracy enjoys his near six-years on the job, it’s in no way easy -- and some of his stories might just change the way you look at TSA agents the next time you travel.
The First Day On The Job:I was working at a smaller regional airport that was going through a remodeling, and they still hadn’t received new government equipment. The X-ray machine was given to them by Chicago O'Hare, and it was 25 years-old, and none of us knew how this antique operated, what we were supposed to see for an image, what type of materials it could and couldn't detect... we were scared to death! So passengers are trying to get through for their flights, and one lady is so nervous about this new security detail at her airport that she forgets to take her cat out of its carrier. It just so happens that I was attempting to operate this old model x-ray right at the time she sends the cat – still in its carrier – through the machine! I look up to see a skeleton in the machine’s view screen, and then suddenly, it moved! I kid you not when I say I nearly flipped -- I thought I had, or would soon be, killing this cat (or that it would be glowing in the dark by nightfall.) Thankfully the woman admitted that she’d forgotten to take the cat out and that it was her fault, not ours. Looking back, that was probably the first and only time that a passenger admitted they were wrong and it wasn't the TSA's fault.
Other Wacky X-Ray Moments:
We get all sorts of things going through the x-ray. There are all those personal excitement devices, we see urns with people’s remains (though you can't see much in terms of shapes -- just a mass of material), lots of kids toys like Hot Wheels cars, but toy guns and grenades catch our attention quite frequently. One lady asked if she could just leave her sleeping child in the carrier, and put the carrier with the child through the x-ray so that the child wouldn't have to be woken up. Strange, but true! The screener who assisted that lady truly felt she should be mentally evaluated. Fortunately, travelers are much more savvy now than they were back when the cat went through the x-ray. We still have the occasional dog or cat come through when someone spaces out. And then there were two screeners who ran each other through the x-ray... that got them some administrative time off, but each got their jobs back.
Dealing With Unruly Passengers:
I deal with unruly passengers each and every day that I go to work. I don't retaliate against them, but what's important to note is that if a person is acting in a manner that is belligerent, unruly, hostile, violent, drunk, moronic, idiotic or otherwise not congenial and angelic, then we have a process that has to be done to determine if this person can continue on their flight without being a burden to the staff and other passengers. For example, a male passenger was entering the checkpoint and I asked him to push his baggage into the x-ray machine. (We ask passengers to push their own items into the x-ray because we don't want to be held responsible if some whacko decides to run up and grab you stuff and take off running out the door with it.) Anyway, he chose to be an idiot and pushed all his stuff so hard that most of it fell onto the floor. Then he walked through the metal detector and called me horrible names. He continued to be verbally abusive to me, so I asked him to step into secondary screening. He continued to call me horrible names, and finally I told him that if he had any hope of continuing on his flight that day, his best chance to do so was to shut up. I eventually called for the assistance of a supervisor because of his continued verbal abuse. That type of action, behavior and language is a huge red flag for TSA.
The federal government has a law in place that was created just after TSA was formed, designed to protect any TSA agent from being verbally and/or physically assaulted or abused. Most people don't know this, but the fines -- depending how far a passenger pushes things -- can be from $5000 - $25,000 and the passenger is placed on a Do Not Fly List. Trust me, you don't want to take on the federal government when a TSA agent is abused, assaulted or intimidated.
