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Topic: TSA security hilarity

Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 12-10-2005 03:36 PM

Remember you get the kind of government you deserve. Louis

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Aaron Mehocic
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 804
From: New Castle, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-10-2005 03:40 PM

Yeah, but its a thankless job all around. We bitch about them now, we'll bitch about them when another building comes down, in the mean time we'll still bitch about 'em . . . its almost like the great debates between management and unions.

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Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 12-10-2005 04:41 PM

quote: Greg Mueller
What really pisses me off is when they stamp all the "S"s all over your boarding pass. That stands for "screw" and you have to get in the special line and get treated like a criminal. They say it's random, but that's BS. I have a friend whose name must match some terrorist suspect. EVERY time he tries to fly he is pulled out of line.

That happens to me everytime I travel with anyone else. If I travel alone I can pretty much run through security. Same goes with clearing customs.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 12-11-2005 09:01 AM

quote: Gordon McLeod
On the last flight I was on my laptop was left for about 30min in the xray unit due to a dispute with the person in the line in front haveing an argument with the security guard over refusing to remove his belt since the buckle set of the alarm

In every airport I've been through outside the UK, you have to remove your laptop from its case and put it through the x-ray machine in a separate tray. In Britain they never ask you do to this, and are happy to let the laptop through the x-ray inside its bag or case. I wonder if British airports use more sophisticated types of x-ray machine (which, given the airport charges added on to the cost of plane tickets, they could probably afford!) or just consider the extra risk from a laptop going through in its case to be too small to worry about.

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Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 12-18-2005 10:10 PM

Flying to Ft. Lauderdale last year, my buddy, who has two arifical hip joints, and the accompanying medical card that clearly indicates the same... well, they pull him to the side and every pass thru the TSA checkpoints.. wanding him like a criminal...

AND... I've stoped wearing shoes while flying... I wear my Rainbow's and I STILL have to send them thru the XRay machine in the tray. Like someone else mentioned.. wonder how many times the carpets/flors are cleaned in that damn terminal?

TSA leaves LOTS to be desired... But, like Postal workers, they put up with a bunch of shit also...

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Sean Weitzel
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 619
From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall)
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 12-19-2005 02:09 PM

A few years back in Denver, I was carrying on a pretty rare 16mm short that I was borrowing from my cousin. You should have seen the TSA freak out when that metal can came though the xray machine. After several supervisors and discussions, the screener finally warned me that they would have to open the can. I agreed to let them open it at which point they started unspooling the film to examine it. I loudly put a stop to that after about 15 feet of leader hit the floor. The agent finally rolled it back up, placed the reel into the can and sent me on my way.

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Jason M Miller
Master Film Handler

Posts: 284
From: Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Registered: Jul 2004

posted 12-20-2005 12:31 PM

quote: Greg Mueller
What really pisses me off is when they stamp all the "S"s all over your boarding pass. That stands for "screw" and you have to get in the special line and get treated like a criminal. They say it's random, but that's BS. I have a friend whose name must match some terrorist suspect. EVERY time he tries to fly he is pulled out of line. Apparently his name is on a "do not allow on the plane" list. He's been trying to fight it for years now.

This is random, to a point...there is a watch list that is in the system, this is defently flawed and it is a big pain the rear to get off this, the ticket agent can put this on the card them selfs if you piss them off [evil]

which I admit when I worked fot the airlines I did some times. [evil]

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 12-20-2005 04:58 PM

quote: Sean Weitzel
A few years back in Denver, I was carrying on a pretty rare 16mm short that I was borrowing from my cousin.

I went through two airport x-ray checks with a reel of 9.5mm in my bag yesterday, en route to a lab. On the second, I went through the scanner before the bag, and so I could see the x-ray screen as it went through from the 'cleared' side. The outline of the steel spool showed up clearly, and I could see the operator looking at it and thinking 'What the...' as it passed along. But he decided not to stop it, and I was able to pick up the bag from the conveyor and move along without comment.

The sister of a colleague at another English film archive once brought me two 1,000 reels of 35mm nitrate that were being transferred to my archive. She told me she was staying with someone close to where we're based, so I arranged to meet her at a bar in Newcastle to relieve her of the films. I guessed that she'd be taking the train or driving - it didn't occur to me that she might come by air. Imagine my shock, then, when she arrived and explained that 'You're damn lucky to get these! The airport security people gave me the third degree over them... thought I was a video pirate or something!'

It turned out the x-ray people had seen the cans and interrogated her as to whether she was the legal owner of the films or not. They couldn't have cared less about the 'Flammable Solid - UN1324/4.1' label on the cans! I know 2,000 feet is not much and that nitrate is actually quite difficult to ignite, but if those films had caught fire in the cabin of a 737 in mid-cruise, I shudder to think of the outcome (not least because of the nitric acid fumes that would have been generated in a pressurised cabin in which the air is recirculated). The person carrying the films was not an archivist and had no idea about any of this; but even so I was gobsmacked that the airport people were worried about piracy but not about the big warning label stuck on the cans.

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Richard Hamilton
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1341
From: Evansville, Indiana
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 12-20-2005 10:36 PM

quote: Leo Enticknap
I was gobsmacked

Hehe, that is a cool word i never heard before. But one I plan on using in the future! [thumbsup]

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William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-21-2005 04:06 AM

I pull 3 relays out of my (2nd) car if I have to leave it parked at the airport, & stick them in my carry-on. For some reason, I have never gotten any problems about what must be very suspiciuos-looking things to any layperson.

Not that I haven't enjoyed examples of TSA silliness, but the relays thing is remarkable.

I hate flying. The TSA is the least aggravating part of flying. Flying is BORING, pockets bursting with paper for flights, car rentals, itineraries, a mash of people worse than Mardi Gras even in business class, missed flights, msucle-spasm-inducing seating on planes, waiting in airports, doing the 'I'm not running' fast as possible trot to catch a connecting flight, wrangling & toting carry-on & chasing checked luggege, scheduling flights that get you somewhere sometime nearbouts or nowhere near the time you want, etc. I often find that I can DRIVE somewhere & get there within an hour or so of some whacked-out flight schedule.

A friend of mine in Beaumont heard me say this, & he said, "I can't believe that! I LOVE to fly! I would fly from here to that door if they had a flight!"

Not me. I would drive to Portland WA from New Orleans instead of enduring commercial air travel. And I've done it, too.

It might be different if I had a pilot's license & a Jenny, but that's not likely to happen.

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Richard Hamilton
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1341
From: Evansville, Indiana
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 12-21-2005 08:48 AM

quote: William Hooper
It might be different if I had a pilot's license & a Jenny, but that's not likely to happen.

Whats a Jenny? I call my blow up doll "Bitch". I don't think she likes it though, because of the expression on her face, her mouth is always wide open! Oh, I got Jennys number also. 867-5309, she didnt give me an area code though!

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 12-21-2005 09:42 AM

quote: William Hooper
I hate flying. The TSA is the least aggravating part of flying. Flying is BORING...

But in most scenarios it's also the only reliable and reasonably priced option for travelling over 200 miles if you don't want to drive. If that's the case in a country as small as Britain, I guess it must be even more so in the US. I understand how you feel, though: I feel exactly the same way about trains, and it'll be a cold day in Hell before I use one again. Sample scenario: York to London (186 miles as the crow flies):

By train: walk from home to station; train journey is scheduled to take 2h15, but usually ends up taking a lot longer due to delays and cancellations (sometimes double that); London station is within walking distance of most places in the city centre. An unrestricted standard class ticket costs £138. There are cheaper options which either restict the time that you travel or to specific trains, but in most cases I need to travel when you can't use them.
By car: The journey time is around five hours on average. The round trip costs me approx. £25 in LPG - call that double if you throw in maintenance, insurance etc. I have a relative who lives in London with whom I could park, otherwise that would be an extra expense.
By air: 24 mile drive to airport; £10 to park at airport. Ticket costs around £60-70 return if booked sufficiently in advance, which I'm usually able to do; £2.90 by tube from Heathrow to the city centre each way. Door to door time around four hours. I've never suffered a significant delay or a cancellation, and this way also works out at about £40-50 cheaper than the train.

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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 12-21-2005 11:03 AM

My, don't they teach anything in school these days? [Big Grin]

Presented for the edification of this esteemed forum's membership:

A Curtis JN-4 "Jenny"

Now this is real flying! [thumbsup]

Back to TSA boobery, the TSA is promising for next year to select more victims for random full searches. Yes! That'll make things better for air travellers. [Roll Eyes]

I'm glad I limit myself to flying only in personal aircraft these days.

For travelling in this part of the US (typical stage length 300 miles), I find that in a race between a 1-hour airline flight, a 2-hour personal aircraft flight, and a 5-hour personal car drive, the car drive matches or beats the flights time-wise door-to-door. The drive is also much cheaper even with current mogas prices and the availability of deeply discounted airfares.

The personal aircraft is obviously the most fun and satisfying for me but it's also the most expensive choice by far. Still, no arriving two hours before flight time, no lines, no crowds, no schedule hassles, no luggage hassles, no "difficult" fellow passengers (unless you've invited them), no TSA. You do get what you pay for.

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Scott D. Neff
Theatre Dork

Posts: 919
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 12-22-2005 12:07 PM

My only real complaint about TSA is that they're so used to dealing with one time travellers that I will walk up to security with my laptop in my hand and they will still ask me "Do you have a laptop?!?!!"

My other complaint is that some places are nice about taking your shoes off, others aren't.

And lastly -- what good is the security screening when in Oakland, my belt does NOT set off the alarm, but in Salt Lake City it DOES???

I'd rather them take a longer time to actually be effective, or just get rid of the silly program altogether. Why do I have to take my coat off? Won't the metal detector detect things inside my coat? Why DO I have to remove my laptop? Are laptop bags made of x-ray proof material??

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-22-2005 02:20 PM

I think the TSA is part of some evil plot to make the airlines go bankrupt even faster. Between them and the planes themselves, they've made flying a miserable drudgery that must be endured, rather than the enjoyable thing it should be. Whatever happened to "getting there is half the fun?"

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