The Patterson Film

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Does this make you feel safer?

Ah, the TSA. On the job in Denver, keeping us safe from fragile, 83-year-old women. Good on them!

I have very little faith—just like the woman's daughter—that anything will
happen as a result of her letter. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some sort of retaliatory action on the part of TSA, frankly. They don't like it when you assert yourself or fly in the face of their aw-THOR-it-eye. If nothing else, I would like it if they would just come right out and tell me that I have to take my shoes off to go through the security checkpoint. Don't tell me it's optional. Don't hold out that little glimmer of hope that I can go through the metal detector with a shred of dignity. Just don't. Just tell me that I have to take off my shoes—not that it's "recommended."

You know, just because you took the screeners out of their blue blazers and put them in nifty maroon sweater vests doesn't make them any better than they were before. Actually, I'd argue that the public may be a little worse off, because now there's no market force regulating the behavior of the screeners. When they were a private entitity, you could complain to the airport, who in turn could put pressure on Wackenhut or whoever. Now, thanks to federalization, these people possess what is essentially carte blanche to push you around, yell at you, and make your life generally very difficult. The arbitrary nature of this agency is truly disturbing. There's no common sense, and very little adherence to stated policy (when that policy is openly stated, that is).

Sorry for the rant. I just hate seeing those individuals with no real power in their actual lives establish petty fiefdoms at work and then proceed to cause innocent people pain. I'm funny that way.