Have your say with the TSA

Posted by: Dean Foust on February 04

Okay, so maybe the whole blog thing has gone too far. Now comes news that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has launched its own blog, joining Homeland Security in the blogosphere. The new TSA site answers questions from travelers, and allows for “comments” so travelers can vent. And vent they do.

Here you’ll find the answer to such vexing questions as: Can you get a fungus from taking off your shoes and paddling around barefoot through the X-Ray machine? (Answer: “If the floor isn’t moist then the possibility is, “extremely small to remote” to contract athlete’s foot.)

But as mentioned earlier, the TSA does seem to allow readers to vent. A couple of current postings:

I was flying out of San Diego, and a TSA agent stole a little tub of my hair product. Do you know how expensive hair product is?

I think you seriously need to stop stealing toiletries from people. Seriously. I mean it. I’d like to know how many of the products you’ve stolen have tested positive for being an explosive or some other dangerous contraband? My bet is not a single one….I don’t feel safer, I feel more irritated, and like my rights are being taken away one by one.

I’ve been asked to take off my Flip Flops. Please explain what I could possibly hide in those?

Ever since you started x-raying our shoes, I've been forced to carry all my plastic explosives in my pants which I find most inconvenient.

I work here at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, and am very familiar with the TSA and it's responsibility. The TSA folks (here or at other airports) are just people, and I'm almost always well treated and also treat them with respect.

That said, my gripe is the occasional TSO who decides to rifle through my wallet. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON FOR THIS, and the TSOs will always stop when I start complaining. What is the reason for this when I have plenty of ID or Port of Seattle (POS) badges? Coming back from Reno a few weeks ago, my wife had won a lot of money at a casino, and the TSOs noted "Hey, there's a lot of money here". Well DUH! Reno's a gambling town and jackpots DO HAPPEN! My wife climbed all over the TSOs and they stopped, but neither her or I need the TSOs to comb through our wallets - often times out of our direct view. At times it's gotten so out of hand I've considered getting their names and personally suing them!

My husband recently flew out of Tucson and when he boarded the flight there was a lady sitting in his seat. She said her boarding pass had that seat number on it. they compared passes and yes, they both had the same seat number...they also both had my husband's name on them!! She had gotten thru 3 check points with the wrong boarding pass!!