TSA says "Just Kidding"

shdw said:
Joking about impending death and performing a seriously dangerous maneuver is the same? :confused:

You guys don't have to agree, I don't expect you to. Everyones butt-holes are way to tense to possibly chance agreeing with what I said. That's is ok though, I got a laugh out of it. Honestly had it been me I would have shook his hand and said "you got me good man." That would have been the end of it.

As for the other comment on pointing a gun, again impending death. Comparing possibly being shot to a bag of baby powder, common now.
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Having that bag and going to jail would ruin someone's life.

You want to be a career instructor... you don't deal with the incompetency, made up rules, and false accusations of the TSA on a day to day basis. A security line is NOT the place to joke, just as much as rolling an airplane (not a dangerous manuever... you know better than that) or any other sort of joke in a professional situation is not the right place to do it.

I hope you are more of a professional than that.
 
Doug Taylor said:
I think indicting the entire agency is akin to having a rogue flight attendant pour water on a passenger and saying "American Waterboards Passengers!" :)
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Yeah, but the more we keep hearing about stuff like this, the more it seems like chalking them up to a few bad apples just isn't that accurate.

shdw said:
Just a general comment. People make it sound like the guy should have his fingernails ripped off and be stoned to death. It was a joke, admittedly poorly executed, but a joke non the less. A person suffered 20 seconds of stress, by god if that is the worst wrongful thing that happens in any of our lives I would take it.
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It's not about the stress, It's about professionalism (or lack thereof) on the part of the screening personnel.

If the screener knew this passenger very well, then you might have a case that it was just a practical joke gone wrong. But to do it to someone you don't know at all is completely unacceptable. It sends the signal that you're more interested in having fun at the expense of the travelers (which is something that a certain portion of the public feels anyway) than you are about ensuring the public safety.

I don't think he should be stoned to death, but I do think he should find a new line of work where professionalism is not such a necessity.

shdw said:
As for the other comment on pointing a gun, again impending death. Comparing possibly being shot to a bag of baby powder, common now.
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Ok, let's say he didn't point a gun at a guy, but instead had that guy face the wall while he patted him down, then produced the bag, confronted the guy about it, and put him in handcuffs before saying "just kidding, have a good day". I would think that there would still be plenty of trouble over that.
 
hgroberts said:
Imagine what they'd do if you ran into the line, yelled "BOMB" and then said "just kidding"....
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Lol, apparently if you were working the TSA line and your name was "shdw" you'd shake his hand and say "Good one buddy you got me!".
Since it wasn't an impending death like situation and all.:laff:

--->>

shdw said:
Joking about impending death and performing a seriously dangerous maneuver is the same? :confused:

Honestly had it been me I would have shook his hand and said "you got me good man." That would have been the end of it.

As for the other comment on pointing a gun, again impending death. Comparing possibly being shot to a bag of baby powder, common now.
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:yup:
 
shdw said:
People need to lighten up.
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Once you fall in love with someone and get married, then you can talk to me about how much I need to lighten up.

If someone at that TSA brought my wife to tears like that because of a practical joke, they would feel lucky to lose their job and have their future wages garnished for the rest of their natural life in order to pay off the settlement from the law suit I'd throw at them. Because the alternative would be me taking them out in the woods and ending them. I am not kidding. Not even a little.
 
Joe Gremlin said:
Once you fall in love with someone and get married, then you can talk to me about how much I need to lighten up.

If someone at that TSA brought my wife to tears like that because of a practical joke, they would feel lucky to lose their job and have their future wages garnished for the rest of their natural life in order to pay off the settlement from the law suit I'd throw at them. Because the alternative would be me taking them out in the woods and ending them. I am not kidding. Not even a little.
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Throttle back there tough guy. The lawsuit and job loss would likely be enough for that nitwit.
 
MikeD said:
Throttle back there tough guy. The lawsuit and job loss would likely be enough for that nitwit.
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Absolutely it would. Which is what I said. But I'd still want to kill the guy. As would anyone who cares that much about someone else. That doesn't mean I would. But it means I'd want to. And that was really my point to shdw. If he thinks what the TSA guy did is acceptable or no big deal, then he's never experienced feeling for another person the way I feel about my wife.
 
Joe Gremlin said:
Absolutely it would. Which is what I said. But I'd still want to kill the guy. As would anyone who cares that much about someone else. That doesn't mean I would. But it means I'd want to. And that was really my point to shdw. If he thinks what the TSA guy did is acceptable or no big deal, then he's never experienced feeling for another person the way I feel about my wife.
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Thats fully understandable.

As an aside: This one dumbass, unfortunately, makes other TSA workers that truly do perform a good job (and I do believe there are a good number of them) all look bad. As much as I dislike the TSA as an organization, and some of the bumbling idiots that work for them, I do respect the ones that actually try to be customer oriented and try to be professional, courteous and helpful; even in light of many in the public they have to deal with, that hold them in contempt and think it's their individual fault that security is the way it is in some places.

As is, I'm glad this unprofessional nitwit is gone.
 
shdw said:
I say it was a kick ass practical joke that was improperly executed. Common, put this in a different perspective.

You and a group of your college buddies are going on spring break and one of you is friends with the TSA guy checking the bags. Imagine the look on your buddies face when you pull something like this.

People need to lighten up.
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Did you see that Family Guy episode where Peter gets kicked in the nuts but it's ok because he's on TV?
 
I would be the last one to defend TSA, but as a general rule, the screeners are doing a job that would drive most people nuts in a manner that is commendable. I even try to put comment cards in with complements for the screeners who were pleasant to work with. However, none of that negates the fact that TSA is taking money under false pretenses and arguably making America more vulnerable than if they did not exist. It is just unfortunate that the lowest paid employees are the ones who take the brunt of the criticism when the real scoundrels are in the arrogant, incompetent, self-serving management above them.
 
Bernoulli Fan said:
Did you see that Family Guy episode where Peter gets kicked in the nuts but it's ok because he's on TV?
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Can't say that I have, sorry. I have never really considered physical pain to be a good practical joke though. Never watched jackass because of that belief.
 
The TSA now just created reasonable doubt for awhile if someone gets caught with some small contraband.

Now if she was really quick on feet she should have faked a heart attack..
 
MikeD said:
Thats fully understandable.

As an aside: This one dumbass, unfortunately, makes other TSA workers that truly do perform a good job (and I do believe there are a good number of them) all look bad. As much as I dislike the TSA as an organization, and some of the bumbling idiots that work for them, I do respect the ones that actually try to be customer oriented and try to be professional, courteous and helpful; even in light of many in the public they have to deal with, that hold them in contempt and think it's their individual fault that security is the way it is in some places.

As is, I'm glad this unprofessional nitwit is gone.
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We're 100% on the same page. I have no small amount of contempt for the TSA. But I have no contempt what so ever for most TSA screeners. Screeners don't make policy, they're just doing their job. And IME most of them do their job very well. The policy behind their job is still idiotic none the less and I dream of the day when that changes. But I see the screeners for what they are and I'm glad that as many of them are as professional as they are.

However like I said earlier, I think this incident reveals the huge short comings that exist in new employee screening and training within the organization. And if we have to live a world where the TSA exists, that needs to change.

The fact that most screeners are professional isn't enough. We need higher standards than that. Ever notice that you pretty much never hear of police officers pulling people over and arresting them only to say 'just kidding' and letting them go? Why do you think that is?

Because in most cases police officers are screened during hiring and trained after hiring to a much higher standard. IOW they don't get into a position of being exposed to the public until know and understand enough to realize that if they did that sort of thing, they'd not only lose their job and their pension, they'd also get sued into oblivion. And I'm pretty sure no police officer needs a memo to tell them that. The TSA needs those kinds of standards and the fact that this guy wasn't just a screener but rather a trainer reveals that those standards clearly don't currently exist within the organization.
 
Joe Gremlin said:
Once you fall in love with someone and get married, then you can talk to me about how much I need to lighten up.

If someone at that TSA brought my wife to tears like that because of a practical joke, they would feel lucky to lose their job and have their future wages garnished for the rest of their natural life in order to pay off the settlement from the law suit I'd throw at them.
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Job loss, sure. But a lawsuit like that is taking things too far if you ask me.
 
Joe Gremlin said:
The emotional damage it would cause some people (including my wife) is very real and very unnacceptable.
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No argument there, but unless you're talking about taking a couple of cents per paycheck, I can't see garnishing someone's wages for the rest of their life over emotional damage.
 
Xiph said:
Job loss, sure. But a lawsuit like that is taking things too far if you ask me.
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Joe Gremlin said:
The emotional damage it would cause some people (including my wife) is very real and very unnacceptable.
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And this is why 90% of the worlds lawyers reside and practice in the United States...

Emotional damage. Jeez.

I can understand a marginal pay out as a slap on the hand, but not gouging some one for a cool million or two solely based on some short term emotional damage.

This wasn't a mass attempt at manslaughter you know.

I've always felt it's commendable when one person shows more restraint and compassion than the d-bag who messed up. Shows who's the "bigger man". You want him to learn a lesson, sure; but dang, its not like you want his unborn child to pay for it as well...:whatever:
 
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