more on Rude TSA personnel; uneven liquids policies

Begin forwarded message:

From: Serge Egelman <[email protected]>
Date: October 16, 2006 9:52:44 AM EDT
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Rude TSA personnel; uneven liquids policies

I just flew to NYC last week to visit my sister for the weekend.  Going
through the Pittsburgh airport, I was told that I had too much
toothpaste.  I told the agent that I was under the impression that we
were allowed 3oz.  He said that was correct, but my toothpaste tube
clearly says 6oz on it.  I explained that since the tube is less than
half full, I am clearly in compliance.  He said something like, "I
understand your position, but the tube says 6oz."  "But it's less than
half full."  "It says 6oz on it."  "Okay, using your powers of
reasoning, what volume of toothpaste would you say currently remains in
this tube?"  "Less than 3oz."  "So then I'm in compliance."  "No sir,
the tube says 6oz."

I gather that from this line of reasoning that you can bring any volume
of liquid as long as it's labeled as 3oz.  The robots apparently won't
have problems with that.

serge

David Farber wrote:
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: mary hodder <[email protected]>
> Date: October 16, 2006 8:51:07 AM EDT
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [IP] Rude TSA personnel; uneven liquids policies
>
> 1.  An interesting thing: my friend Phil, who isn't the brightest  
> person
> ever, told me was that as a TSA screener at LAX, they had
> recently asked him and everyone else to sign a loyalty oath that also
> promised to treat all passengers with dignity.
>
> He said he'd refused on the grounds that every single they they do
> screening people is undignified treatment toward the passengers.
> As he says he told the bosses, "We go through all their dirty  
> underwear
> and feel them up, harass them and grill them on every little bottle of
> shampoo, and it's totally demeaning.  I can't pledge to treat them  
> in a
> dignified manner and keep doing the screenings."
>
> I was really surprised to hear this, but it made me happy that he  
> got it.
>
> 2.  On another note, in Gatwick two weeks ago, I took a photo of  
> one of
> the signs posted about every 5 feet warning people not
> to assault the personnel either verbally or physically.  This was  
> while
> waiting to check in, in a line of over 1000.  Then we went
> to security, which was more than double.  It took an hour and 15 to
> check in, and 2 hours to get through security.  I gather it's routine
> by the locals to get to Gatwick hours ahead if you fly Easyjet  
> (which I
> won't ever do again).
>
> An employee came rushing over and demanded I delete the photo  I'd  
> taken
> of him.  I said I'd never seen him before because he was sitting
> behind all the standing customers and I was just taking a picture  
> of the
> sign.  He wanted to see it, and it was the sign, and made me delete  
> it.
> But I actually had about 20 of the signs in different areas, so it
> wasn't a loss.  But they are clearly very paranoid.
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/maryhodder/271237097/
>
> My co-passenger remarked, "If you have to hang signs like that
> everywhere, you have a real customer relations problem, and this is  
> all
> going to break really soon.  There is way too much tension in here."
>
> One of the signs I took said you could fly with liquids bought in the
> airport, to Europe and Asia, but was prohibited from flying from  
> the US.
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/maryhodder/271237096/
>
> 3.  The weekend before Gatwick I flew from Amsterdam to London on
> Easyjet.  Everyone got on the plane with bottles of juice and liquids,
> soda, etc.  Clearly Amsterdam is super relaxed in many ways.
>
> You should note that Easyjet charges for everything, including $3  
> for an
> 8 oz bottle of water.  So everyone wants to bring liquids onto the  
> plane
> due to limited and bad selections, and expensive prices.
>
> We were flying to Amsterdam, but the airport security people still
> tagged a passenger's backpack before boarding the plane.
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/maryhodder/271237094/
>
>
>
> On Oct 16, 2006, at 4:34 AM, David Farber wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> From: Esmé Vos <[email protected]>
>> Date: October 16, 2006 12:43:38 AM EDT
>> To: [email protected]
>> Subject: Rude TSA personnel; uneven liquids policies
>>
>> For IP if you wish.
>>
>> I posted this on my blog today
>> (http://www.rosecantine.com/archives/193/) about the uneven TSA
>> liquids policies in SF, Boston and Houston:
>>
>> In addition to yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs like
>> their colleagues in other airports, Logan TSA people try to project
>> the image that they are really doing something to ensure you  
>> security.
>> And this is how they do it:
>> I checked in a little plastic bag with liquids. The bag went through
>> the scanner and immediately, an alert TSA employee, no doubt keeping
>> us safe from those nasty people told me that the little plastic bag
>> was too big. Never mind that the same plastic bag went through San
>> Francisco Airport's security without any problems. So to make us feel
>> that they are doing a spectacular job, they decided to confiscate a
>> nearly empty bottle of contact lens solution. But they let the  
>> plastic
>> bag through anyway.
>>
>> When I said, "But this bag and all of its contents went through San
>> Francisco with no problem," the TSA guy retorted, "Yeah, but San
>> Francisco is San Francisco."
>>
>> Yes, folks, don't you feel so much safer now that airport security
>> people in a single country can't agree on standard procedures and  
>> even
>> criticize their own colleagues in another city? By the way, the same
>> little plastic bag filled with eye drops, lip gloss, hand creme and
>> hair gel just sailed right through Houston's airport, right in Bush
>> country.
>>
>> I love the Tyler Brule column in the Financial Times this weekend in
>> which he rips TSA apart for the degrading manner in which they treat
>> passengers.
>>
>> "Having just witnessed a humiliating attack on a defenceless elderly
>> gentleman at La Guardia airport, it's time to create an enforceable
>> charter of human rights for passengers and a tough set of standards
>> that airports, airlines and affiliated businesses must abide by."
>>
>> . . .
>>
>> "As the gentleman tried to collect his things and bundle them in his
>> arms the security guard moved in closer. 'Sir, this is a federal
>> inspection area and you must move on. You must do so in the fastest
>> manner possible sir!' The man gently nodded but dropped a shoe in his
>> haste and the barrage of passive-aggressive security-speak started
>> over again. I motioned to go and help the man but he pulled himself
>> together and then shuffled away to find a place to put on his shoes."
>>
>> "I immediately told the security man that terrorising people was not
>> part of his job description. 'Sir, you're in a federal inspection  
>> area
>> . . . "' he began. '. . . and as a result you're a representative of
>> the federal government and you're not putting on the best face for
>> Washington by abusing a man in his 80s,' I retaliated."
>>
>> "Unfortunately, this scene isn't limited to just the airports of the
>> Port Authority but plays itself out all over North America,  
>> pockets of
>> Europe, Australia and beyond. Passengers recognise the need for
>> stricter security measures but with them have come a culture of
>> belligerent behaviour that's going unchecked by the security  
>> companies
>> who win contracts, the airports that award them and the governments
>> that are supposed to police the system."
>>
>>
>> (Brule column is at:
>> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/658a3126-5b21-11db-8f80-0000779e2340.html)
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Esme Vos
>> Founder
>> Muniwireless.com
>>
>>
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>>
> Mary Hodder
> CEO:  Dabble
> Blogs:  Dabble.com/blog
> Napsterization.org/stories
>
>
>
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-- 
/*
Serge Egelman

PhD Candidate
Vice President for External Affairs, Graduate Student Assembly
Carnegie Mellon University

Legislative Concerns Chair
National Association of Graduate-Professional Students
*/